Journey
by JessicaHale123
Summary: Stiles leaves Beacon Hills, and learns how to be strong on his own.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, because if I did Sterek would be canon. The only thing that's mine is the plot and any original characters I might add in. Enjoy.

Stiles didn't know when things had started turning for the worst.

Sometime between Scott becoming a werewolf and now, things had begun to deteriorate. Scott was so absorbed in Allison, and his sudden popularity, that Stiles didn't even notice when they started drifting apart. One moment everything was fine, Stiles and Scott were inseparable, and the next... It wasn't only Stiles and Scott's relationship that was affected when Scott was turned, things between Stiles and his dad had been heating up, just waiting for the worst moment to explode. The thing was, it could have been avoided if Stiles just told his dad the truth, but Stiles knew he couldn't. His dad was all he had left, he couldn't risk his dad dying in some supernatural battle, and he also couldn't risk his dad trying to separate him from the pack. So Stiles lied, and everytime he did, that explosion grew bigger and bagger because his dad knew something was wrong. And then there was Derek...

A part of Stiles knew on some level that it would lead to this. Ever since they had met, there had been this tension between them, and Stiles knew that they were both too broken to make it work, that the heat between them would build and build until it burned them alive, ruining any chance of friendship, but he had hoped... As they grew closer and began to trust each other, Stiles found he didn't want to hold back anymore, he wanted to take the risk, because surely just a few months of warmth would be worth the explosion.

It wasn't.

Stiles knew that Derek would hurt him, not physically, he knew Derek would never truely want to hurt him, but Derek was damaged, and Stiles didn't know how to help heal those types of wounds. Stiles knew that trying would just hurt them both, and in the end, Derek Hale would break his heart. But he hadn't cared.

It was after Derek brought Scott to Deaton, while they were waiting together to see if he was going to be okay, Stiles could feel them standing on the edge, waiting to see who was going to take that step.

"If you hadn't trusted me, Scott would be dead" Derek broke the silence, and Stiles didn't look up from where he was starring at his brother, on the brink of death, but still hanging on. He tried to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't trusted Derek, if he had questioned him, even for a minute. Would Scott have survived? Would Melissa have blamed him? How could he have lived with that guilt? And he was grateful, he knew that tension between them, the attraction, the respect, was the reason he'd taken Derek at his word.

"Its unreal to think we've only known each other a few months, it feels like I've known you my whole life. I trust you, Derek Hale" Stiles admitted, turning around to face the Alpha, and Derek was right behind him, their faces inches apart.

"Not everyone in my family was a werewolf, Stiles, humans have an important place in any pack. You bring out the humanity in us, and if your not careful, we'll bring out the beast in you" Derek said, his eyes focused on his nose, as if he couldn't make himself look Stiles in the eyes, or couldn't trust himself not to look at his lips.

"I'm okay with that" Stiles said, leaning forwards at the same time Derek did, and then they were kissing, and Stiles mind went blank.

Kissing Derek wasn't anything like he'd imagined, he'd always thought there'd be more shoving into walls and biting, but Derek was gentle, yet commanding. He wrapped his arms around Stiles hips, pressing thre length of their bodies together, and manipulated his body like a well practiced machine.

"Stiles, your only sixteen" Derek pulled back sharply, his eyes wide, and Stiles actually contemplated biting him in his frustration for a moment.

"Okay, fist of all, I'm seventeen, and a willing contributor in this. Second of all, we were really having a moment, and I don't know about you, but it was very nice, and I'd like to do it again, repeatedly, on various surfaces-" Stiles was cut off when Derek turned and began dragging him out of the vet clinic and over to his car.

"We're not making out beside Scott's unconscious body" Derek smirked, pulling Stiles into the backseat, and suddenly Stiles was lost again. Derek smelt like woodsmoke and mint, like dark chocolate and cinnamon. It was heady and delicious, and when Derek scented his neck, biting human teeth into his neck, Stiles couldn't help but bite Derek back, sinking his teeth into Derek's neck, and feeling his body tremble against his for a moment as the air around them became electrified.

Some time later, Stiles realized Derek was digging his hands into the upholstery in order to keep from ripping Stiles clothes off, and a giddiness swept through him.

"I know I'm human, but your not going to break me" Stiles smirked, sliding a hand up Derek's thigh, and then Derek's hands slid under his ass, and pulled his jeans down, tossing them aside as Stiles yanked his shirt off, leaving Stiles mostly naked in Derek's backseat, and Derek still fully clothed.

"I better not be dreaming" Stiles muttered as he pushed Derek's leather jacket off his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his pulse, and feeling every muscle in Derek's body lock up, before finally relaxing into the kiss.

Stiles lost track of time between the kissing and the touching, and the licking and the biting, not all of while was done by Derek, to the Alpha's amusement. Derek might heal quickly, but that didn't stop Stiles from trying, covering his body in bites, bruises and scratches as Derek slowly drove him insane.

By the time Derek slipped a lubed finger into Stiles, he was already so far gone to the pleasure, and had no intention of ever stopping.

Derek seemed to take extreme joy in driving Stiles crazy, being twice as through when stretching him out than Stiles thought was necessary, and then Derek was sliding into him, sans condom, into Stiles was seated on his lap.

"You need a bigger car" Stiles complained the third time Stiles hit his head on the roof while trying to ride him, and Derek just laughed into his shoulder.

It wasn't elegant or beautiful, they weren't in perfect sync, there was no gentle lovemaking or proflaimation of true love. It was desperate and messy, and it was perfect.

Between Stiles teenage hormones and Derek's werewolf stamina, they kept going round after round until the run rose, and Stiles finally slouched forewords against Derek's chest, sleepy and blissed out.

He must have fallen asleep in Derek's arms, because he woke up in his own bed, dressed in his boxers and t-shirt, smelling like cum and sex and Derek. The collection of bruises and bite marks covering his body reminders of their night together, and Stiles smiled giddily into his pillow for a moment before getting up to grime off.

Stiles didn't know what to expect, and a part of him had even expected this to happen, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt like a motherfucker all the same. Because for the next two weeks, Derek avoided him, not even a text message, and Stiles didn't know how to go forwards. He knew pushing Derek would have the opposite effect that he wanted, and therefore he was stuck.

So, since he couldn't focus on his Derek issues, he couldn't fix his Dad problems, and he wasn't sure how to address his Scott dilemma, Stiles threw his energy at Deaton.

"So your saying there's nothing else? I created a 20 foot line out of a handful of sand and there's nothing I could do to help?" Stiles complained to Deaton, and Deaton met his eyes steadily.

"Stiles, magic is half raw power and half will power, and while you have plenty of the later, you don't have much of the other. There's nothing else to tell you, you just don't have the capabilities for magic" Deaton repeated, and Stiles frowned disappointedly, and when Deaton wandered off, Stiles tried not to feel too bad about riffling through Deaton's books.

There wasn't too much that interested him, only a few spell books that Stiles didn't know the first thing about using. There were some newer looking texts, but most of them were old and hand written, of varying sizes and thickness. There was only one book that called to him, a leather bound book, about two inches thick, with an old fashioned buckle, which opened easily and revealed thousands of thin pages, the book was divided into sections, spells, potions, rituals and creatures, and on the first page, Stiles found the Hale triskilion, and bellow it were several signatures, the most recent being Philip Hale.

Philip Hale was Derek's human older brother...

It was a no brainer to take the book, it wasn't Deaton's anyway. Stiles didn't know how he had it, but Derek deserved a little piece of his family back, even if it was just a book.

Stiles never ended up giving the book back.

He told himself he just wanted to study it first, and then he'd give it to Derek. Besides, he couldn't actually give it back until Derek stopped avoiding him anyway, so he might as well take a look.

That was when Stiles discovered Deaton had lied.

It only took a couple hours for Stiles to realize he had more than enough capability for magic. At first he started small, levitating a pencil, but slowly he worked his way up to rearranging his bedroom without lifting a muscle, and it escalated from there.

It was all harmless stuff, practically party tricks, he had never tried the more dangerous spells, because he didn't have enough control yet. He was using the little training practices the book talked about to summon and control his raw magic, but he'd never directed that power at anyone.

After his complete uselessness at the station fighting off Matt and the kanima, and being forced to lay beside Derek, the tension between them so thick, and yet being unable to say anything...

It almost hurt as much as when they were able to move, when Matt was dead, and Stiles was at home, his dad finally having gone to bed after reassurance that Stiles was okay, only to find Derek in his bedroom. From the tense set of his shoulders, Stiles knew that this conversation wasn't going to end well.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked, and Derek didn't reply, only looking at Stiles bed.

"Scott's working with Gerard, and I know he doesn't keep anything from you. Its awfully convenient that we had sex while Scott is spying on my pack" Derek growled, and Stiles was suddenly speechless.

"Scott... No, Scott wouldn't work with Gerard, and if he did... He would have told me" Stiles said, and Derek whipped around his eyes glowing red.

"Don't lie to me. I should have known better, I keep making the same mistakes over and over, and I'm not going to loose another pack over it!" Derek snarled lowly, the sound shaking Stiles awake.

"I'm not lying, just listen to my heartbeat. I don't know anything about Scott and Gerard working together" Stiles declared, and Derek growled lowly.

"It doesn't matter, I should never have... It wont happen again" Derek said bluntly, and Stiles winced, blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Okay, I understand. I got your message loud and clear, so you can leave now" Stiles snapped, turning away from Derek as he walked up behind him.

"This is for the best. Goodbye, Stiles" Derek said, and then he was gone, and Stiles let the tears fall down his cheeks, trying to muffle his cries so Derek wouldn't hear and use it to hurt him further.

It was only when Stiles called Scott, and was sent to voicemail, that he finally realized how alone he was. Scott has just left him half paralyzed in the police station, he was working with Gerard, and now he wasn't there when he called... After everything with Derek, it was a tough pill to swallow.

Stiles had never imagined what his attributes would be. Every magic user was different, they all had things they excelled in, and things they didn't, and every magic had a certain flavor, some more rare than others. Stiles didn't know what he thought his attributes might be, conjuring? Enchantments? Potions?

He didn't expect this.

Gerard pushed him to the ground, and his eyes met Erica's, miserable and afraid, and knew he couldn't let her die, he had to do something, anything... Gerard reached for him as he summoned his magic to him, and then Stiles set a hand against Gerard's heart, and pushed his magic out.

There was a moment of silence, Gerard drew in one shocked gasp, and then his body hit the floor. It looked like one of those nature films, where they show the circle of life from birth to decomposing, only much gorier.

"Oh my god" Stiles gagged on the scent of decomposing flesh, and stumbled to his feet, and unplugged the electrical current moving through Erica and Boyd.

"Stiles, what... what are you?" Erica gasped, and Stiles recoiled from the horror in her tone.

"You should call Derek. He doesn't know how to connect, but nothing matters more to him than Pack. If you talk to him, he'll understand" Stiles stuttered, tossing Boyd his phone, and then Stiles left, leaving them to follow behind him.

Everything happened so quickly. Lydia came to him, and within two hours, Jackson was a werewolf, and happily reunited with Lydia. After nearly being killed several times the last few weeks, everything was over, and things were beginning to settle. Erica and Boyd had returned to Derek, and were reconnecting with him and Issac, apologizing for leaving and promising to stay. Scott and Allison were reconciling in the corner, Scott had finally told her the truth about her mother, and she was crying and apologizing profusely.

And Stiles... Stiles stood on the edges of the battlefield, watching as the Pack swarmed each other around him, and none of them noticed when Stiles turned and left. Stiles returned home, and when he tried to excuse where he'd been to his father, who had finally had enough, everything exploded.

Stiles had lost Scott, Erica and Boyd were afraid of him, his magic was... twisted, and Derek had firmly rejected him. Now his dad had turned on him, and Stiles lost his last shred of control.

"ENOUGH, STILES! Just enough! You think I'm stupid? I know when I'm being lied to, dammit, just tell me the truth! I don't even recognize you anymore! My son would never-" Stiles dad ranted, and Stiles heart shattered.

"Your son?! You didn't seem to think your son was real important when you were drinking your liver to death, and leaving me to practically raise myself after mom died" Stiles snarled, his hands tightened into fists, and John looked at him like he was a stranger.

"We've moved past that-" John began, and Stiles laughed bitterly.

"No, you moved over it. I still have nightmares about you blaming me for my mothers death, I still remember watching her die, I still remember learning how to cook and clean for myself at ten years old because my father was passed out on the floor! No! You do not get to talk about change! I haven't been a normal kid in years, I haven't needed you, and I don't need you now!" Stiles screamed, his heart beat slamming against his ribs, his face flushed with rage, and he knew he couldn't afford to say anything more, but when he move to disappear into his room, his dad grabbed Stiles by the arm, yanking him back.

"You aren't just some kid, your my kid! As long as you live in my house, you follow my rules, and you will respect me! Now I don't care what the hell is wrong with you, but you'd better get over it! If you haven't smartened up by the morning, I'm gonna introduce your ass to a jail cell" John snarled and Stiles shoved his dad off and slammed his bedroom door behind him.

Stiles paced for a few minutes, before falling face first into his bed and indulging in a healthy cry. Stiles wasn't an over emotional guy, he was normally very good at compatinalizing, he could store away his emotions until he could deal with them later, but sometimes he just wanted to let all of it out, and cry until he was numb.

After he was emotionally exhausted, he sat up, pushed the remaining emotions to the side, and settled at his desk, where he began to make a plan.

He couldn't stay here any longer. In the last few months, he'd been almost killed an innumerable amount of times, and most of the time it was by the people on his side. He also wasn't sure what to do about his magic, he needed a real teacher if he wanted to learn how to control it without hurting someone. And if the town or the pack didn't get him killed, Stiles didn't have a lot going for him, he had no friends, no family, and no love life, his life kinda sucked, and if it went on much longer, he might just do himself in. And stiles wasn't at the point where he would ever be okay with that, he was too strong for suicide, he would leave and come back stronger than ever, and make everyone sorry for giving up on him.

He would make Derek sorry he hadn't given Stiles a chance, a small voice in the back of his head said bitterly.

After a few hours of research on his laptop, and three energy drinks later, Stiles made a couple phone calls. He made sure he kept his voice down, and eventually he managed to pull together a makeshift plan. It wasn't his best work, but it was way better than anything Scott would have created, so there was that...

Stiles had a bunch of family from his moms side in New York, after talking to them, he managed to get in contact with his moms parents. Stiles didn't know much about them, only that his mom never talked to them again after dropping out of university, and they were filthy rich. His grandfather was some sort of CEO, and his grandmother a socialite. They agreed to get him some paperwork, he agreed to Sunday dinner. They agreed to a monthly allowance of $1000 and he agreed to at least a bachlour degree. They agreed not to tell his dad, he agreed to stay out of the press until he finished University.

Truthfully, it was mostly to his advantage.

Stiles next phone call was to switch all his money over to a bank in New York, and bar anyone lese from interfering with his account. When his mom died, most of her life insurance went into that account, to help pay for his schooling, plus whatever he and his dad put away. Overall, he had nearly 200 grand in there, most of which he wouldn't touch, and he couldn't use any of it anyway until he turned 18 in a year, but Stiles always had a backup plan.

Stiles called around to different apartments all around New York, selecting one of the cheaper ones, even if he had some extra cash, he didn't want to push his luck. Finally he found one in Bronx, New York, and signed the paperwork online, and arranged for his first and last to go through, along with a hefty tip for getting this all done within a few hours.

After this, he called ahead to book a second class, one way only, ticket to Manhattan, New York, which would leave at 10 AM from Sacramento, and arranged for a car to come pick him up and drive him to the airport. He would have to leave the Jeep behind, there was no way he could take it with.

By this time, it was nearly 5 AM, and the car would be there any moment, so Stiles started packing. He grabbed his two large suitcases, which had actually been his mums, but had been stored in his closet. Stiles only about half his clothes, all of his movies, his books, toiletries, pillow, and photo albums. He wiped his laptop, which he would have to leave behind, and the house phones memory, and couldn't resist taking Derek's leather jacket, which he had forgotten here one day, and smelled exactly like the Alpha... Woodsmoke and mint, dark chocolate and cinnamon... Just a whiff of it took Stiles back to the backseat of the camero, his body wrapped around Derek, his hands exploring where he'd never thought he'd get to touch, and Derek's hands doing plenty of exploring himself.

Stiles had thought then that Derek had enjoyed that night just as much as Stiles had, but he guessed he was wrong... Or maybe he had enjoyed it, he just didn't want everything that came along with it...

Shaking himself out of it, he realized it was almost 6 AM, and the car had arrived. Sneaking out of the house, his dads alarm clock ringing behind him, waking his dad up for his shift, Stiles moved swiftly and silently for the first time in his life, slipping out the door, he put his things in the trunk, and was slipping into the backseat when he seen his bedroom light turn on, and heard his dad swearing when he realized most of Stiles things were gone.

"Get me out of here, and there's a $50 tip in your future" Stiles said quietly, and the driver nodded, half way down the street by the time his dad ran out of the house.

It was nearly 9 AM am, and Stiles was sitting in the airport coffee shop, starring at the pay phone across the room as he slowly drained his third cup of coffee. Stiles waited until 9:45 before walking over to the payphone and debating who to call, when finally he settled on Melissa.

"Hello" the nurse sounded weary and drawn out, which made Stiles bite his lip in guilt.

"I wanted to say goodbye" Stiles whispered, and Melissa's breath caught.

"Stiles? Stiles, is that you?" Melissa asked, and suddenly Stiles could hear arguing in the background.

"I'll hang up if you give the phone to anyone" Stiles warned her, and she relayed the message, making the background go quiet.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me where you are?" Melissa asked, and Stiles wiped a tear from his cheek.

"No. Who's all there? Is it just my dad, or did Scott manage to drag himself away for a moment?" Stiles asked, and Melissa cleared her throat.

"Your dad, Scott, Derek, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson, Lydia, Allison, her dad, and about five deputies" Melissa said softly, and Stiles sniffled, wiping his tears.

"There's so many things I want to say, but I... I don't know how to word it. Scott chose Allison, Lydia chose Jackson, Derek chose his Pack, my dad chose work, I'm fairly certain Erica and Boyd are disgusted by me, and I barely know Issac... The only one I couldn't just leave hanging was you. You took one look at a spastic five year old clinging to your son, and you welcomed me in. After my mom died, you were there for me, you held me up when my dad broke down. I can't imagine where I'd be without you, and I don't want to. Thank you, Melissa, for making me strong, but I need to be strong on my own now. I'll never forget you. I love you, mom" Stiles said those last four words almost at a whispered, and he could hear Melissa sobbing.

"Stiles, please come home. We can fix this, I promise I will make Scott fix whatever happened between you two. Your like a second son to me, Stiles Stilinski, I don't want to lose you" Melissa cried, and Stiles sniffled.

"You won't lose me, not permanently. I'll be back one day, but if I spend another day in that town, I can't be certain I'll wake up again" Stiles choked out, and Melissa was crying even heavier now.

"Stiles-" Melissa started, and Stiles took a steadying breath and cut her off.

"Goodbye, mom. I love you" Stiles said, stronger this time, and she stiffled a sob.

"I love you, too, Stiles. Please, don't-" Melissa begged, and Stiles forced himself to hang up the phone, bending down, he grabbed his carry on, and left the cafe, heading towards his terminal, where passengers were getting onto the plane.

It was hard to leave everything behind, but this was the only way. He knew himself well enough to know that if he kept contact, he would come back before he was ready to make the people he loved happy. But this time he had to do something for himself, he had to learn to be strong. This was his pathway, and no one else could walk it.

This was the beginning of his journey...


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, the only thing that is mine is the plot and any original characters._

Stiles plane touched down in JFK airport at almost 6:00 PM, and immediately it felt like the grip on his heart had softened slightly, but, Stiles didn't dare relax yet. Just because he hadn't been yanked off the plane before it took off didn't mean his father hadn't managed to trace his phone call, and he might have put out a warning for someone meeting his description. Once he got out of the airport and disappeared into the hustle and bustle of New York, he would just be one of millions, it was unlikely tha his small town Sherriff father would manage to find him here. He would be safe once he disappeared into New York, where he wouldn't exactly stick out, weight had lifted off his chest. Stiles collected his luggage, and made his way through the crowds towards the street, where

He walked out of the airport, and found a tall grey haired man holding a sign labeled M. Iskra. He didn't appear anything special, he wore khakis, a polo shirt, and loafers, all good quality, without being _too_ good quality. It was his posture that gave him away as someone used to wealth. He held himself pencil rod straight, his face completely expressionless, and he appeared slightly uncomfortable in his clothes.

Plus Iskra was his mother's maiden name, and no one except family knew what his first name was.

"You must be George" Stiles said drily, and the butler looked slightly surprised.

"Yes, you are Mr. Iskra? You look so much like Miss Claudia" George said, his eyes warming several degrees, and Stiles allowed himself to relax.

"So I've been told. Did my grandparents send you to take me to my apartment?" Stiles asked, and George gave a small bemused smile.

"Along with a message from Madame Iskra, she wishes to lament to you the futility of not accepting their offer of lodging. She is not impressed by your choice in housing" George said expressionlessly, and Stiles rolled his eyes.

"She wanted me to live in one of the family apartments, but with the condition that they get to control what I go to school for. Tell her I said thank you, but I am fine with the apartment I selected" Stiles said as he put his suitcases in the trunk of the Mazda behind George. The car was a couple years old, still in good condition, but it was not the type of car he imagined his grandparents owning. It made him wonder if they had bought it just so George could drive him around without arising suspicion.

Rich people.

"I will pass along your response" George said dutifully, reaching to open his car door, and Stiles stopped him.

"I've got it. How did my grandmother even find out where I'm living now before I've even seen it" Stiles said, and George looked amused at Stiles naivety.

"Madame Iskra just knows" George said mysteriously, and then George was cruising serenely through traffic, and the car fell silent. Normally Stiles would be chattering away, but it had been a long couple of weeks, and Stiles couldn't sleep at all on the plane, which meant he'd been up for almost two days. Stiles just wanted to lay his head against the window and catch a short nap before having to go shop for furniture and settle into his new apartment.

"Mr. Iskra, we are here" George said, shaking Stiles awake, and Stiles groaned sleepily as he realized they were across the street from the apartment building, parked next to a very nice limousine.

"Insurance, and spare keys are in the glove box. Your birth certificate, drivers license, health insurance, social security number, debit card, school transcripts, and passport is in the envelope. The car payment comes out on the 24th of every month, it is $250, and rent comes out on the 15th, which is $500. Here is your new cell phone, payment comes out the 15th as well, and it is $75" George announced, giving Stiles the car keys, and Stiles just nodded along.

"Thank you" Stiles yawned, rolling the kinks out of his shoulders as they switched, and George disappeared into the car and drive away.

Stiles drove over to the apartment building, parking, and went inside, where he signed several forms before being given the key. He walked into the small one bedroom apartment, and grabbed the bag of cleaning supplies in his one suitcase. Stiles spent an hour cleaning his new apartment from top to bottom, sterilizing everything, before opening the windows to air the place out, and leaving to go grab some of the essentials before everything closed for the night.

Stiles bought some essential household items, cooking utensils, coffee machine, cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, cloths, blankets, a welcome mat, curtains, bathroom supplies, laudrey supplies, a small tool kit, and some groceries. Meanwhile, Stiles also ordered a bed, dresser, and couch online, all of which would be delivered tomorrow.

That night, Stiles returned to his completely bare apartment, laden down with bags, and began to settle in. He organized the kitchen, bathroom and laudrey cupboard, hung up a few pictures on the walls, plus a few posters, and did everything possible to make this cramped apartment feel like home.

Fianlly, it was nearing 1 AM when finally Stiles had to sit down or pass out. He grabbed his new comforter and his trusty pillow, curled up on the floor of his bedroom, and passed out. Emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted.

Stiles woke up with his back aching and missing his bed, but he just got up, stretching out his tired body as he walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee and a bagel.

Stiles spent the rest of the day finishing his unpacking, putting up for more picture frames. He had three pictures of his mom and him, another of him and Melissa, and more of him with his cousins, mainly Darcy and Andrew, but he had pictures of Sam and Kevin up as well.

His furniture arrived around noon, and Stiles spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out how to assemble it all, then putting the last of his things away. His apartment was still bare, but he had burned through all the money he had in his bank account, he couldn't touch the money in his savings for another year, and after paying for all the bills, he only had $175 left of his allowance from his grandparents for groceries, gas and spending for the rest of the month. He was going to have to get a job, there was no way he could survive on that much in New York.

Around 4 PM, Stiles head to the public library, where he deleted his old email, and all his social media, then he created new ones with his new identity. Anyone looking for him would search for Stiles Stilinski, not Mieczyslaw Iskra. Stiles pulled up google docs, and got to work creating a new resume, which was basically his contact information and some information about himself because he had no job history.

Stiles finished around dinner time, and spent another hour walking around, handing out resumes, and charming his way into an interview to three different places. A restaurant, a gym and an occult shop. Stiles hadn't even applied for the occult shop, the woman had just walked out, grabbed him by the shoulders and lead him into the store.

"Whoa! Hello!" Stiles gasped as he was directed to the backroom, and the beautiful raven haired woman levelled him with a sharp look. She couldn't be more than thirty, dressed in jeans and a tank top, she looked like any woman off the streets, not like she spent her free time occupying occult shops. Unlike the one cheesy magic store in Beacon Hills, this one appeared to be the real deal. The shop was well lit and clean, books to one side of the shop, and ingredients on the other side, with some trinkets and candles dividing them.

"Your magic has been polluting the street for over an hour, keep control over your aura or I will give you the worst case of blue balls you have ever had" the woman smiled sweetly, and Stiles froze, unsure how to respond. she didn't look like a phony, but you could never know...

"Right... And, uh, you are?" Stiles frowned at her, and she eyed him shrewdly for a minute before her cheeks flushed slightly, and she avoided his eyes.

"My mistake, you must be new to the craft. I'm Louise, I'm apart of the Blue Crescent circle" Louise said, holding out her hand, and Stiles shook it gingerly.

"I'm Stiles Iskra, I'm not apart of any circle. I found my magic a few weeks ago, but I don't have any idea what I'm doing" Stiles admitted, and Louise eyed him carefully, something warm blooming in her eyes.

"Your afraid of your power" She said knowingly, and he avoided her eyes.

"I... I hurt someone, and they deserved it, but... My magic felt... Evil" Stiles admitted, and Louise set her hands on his cheeks, tilting his face to look her in the eyes, something warm and compassionate in her face made Stiles heart pound and tears prickle his eyes.

"No two persons magic is the same, we all have different attributes, and the no one's magic is inherently evil, its what you use your magic for that corrupts a persons magic" Louise said, and Stiles sniffled, wiping a tear out of the corner of his eyes.

"So, my magic isn't... wrong?" Stiles asked hopefully, and she set her hand against Stiles heart as she whispered a few lines of Greek.

"Your magic lays in blood and decay, storm and cold, deception and soul" Louise announced, and more tears welled up in his eyes.

"What does that mean?" Stiles asked, and she gave him a sympathetic look.

"It means you had a horrible teacher, who never bothered to tell you that not everything is black and white, the world is made out of shades of grey" Louise said, and Stiles ran a hand over his heart, suddenly exhausted.

"Blood and decay sound pretty bad" Stiles commented, and Louise disappeared, then reappeared with four books in her arms.

"These are the books I recommend to all newbies. History of Magick, Magical Theory Vol 1, Ingredients and Techniques for Beginner Brewers, and Attributes Through the Ages. Read these, then tell me if you still think your magic is evil" Louise said firmly, and Stiles tried to refuse, but she was having none of it.

"You'll work Wednesday and Friday 4-12, and Sunday 9-4. $13 an hour, and pay comes out every Thursday" Louise announced, slipping a business card into one of the books as she bagged the, she took one of his resumes, and then hustled him out of the store.

Figuring he'd had enough job hunting, Stiles head back to his apartment, and he walked through the door only to find his grandparents on his couch, a stack of brochures in his grandmothers hands.

Stiles grandparents were in their late seventies, but they were in healthy shape. They both probably had personal trainers, and he couldn't imagine his elegant looking grandmother eating a burger. They were dressed for a high society party. His grandmother was in a white sleeveless sheath dress, there was some sort of pink floral pattern on it, stockings, pink pumps and pink elbow length gloves. She had her hair coiled into a fancy updo, and her lips were painted pink. Stiles grandfather was dressed in a very expensive suit, his hair cut short, and a hard look in his eyes, he looked ready to take on the world.

This won't end well, Stiles thought as he closed the door, took off his shoes before going to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a cup of coffee for his grandfather and tea for his grandmother.

"What is it you want to discuss? And whatever happened to keeping me out of the press? You two don't exactly look inconspicuous" Stiles said drily, and his grandmother raised her chin haughtily.

"I left all my jewelry at home" she gave heir surroundings a judgemental look, and Stiles took a sip of his coffee to keep from saying something rude.

"Stiles, we agreed that you would continue your schooling, which means you need to pass high school. These are some of the best schools in the area, we've come to help guild your decision. Many prestigious schools will consider your application more thoroughly if you come from an upstanding academy" Stiles grandfather tried to push one brochure in particular into his hand.

"Ashwood Prep? Isn't that a little much? I thought your said you wanted me to keep my head down? This isn't keeping my head down, this is flaunting" Stiles said, and his grandfather scowled, but tossed it aside and thy spent hours combing through every brochure they had brought with the until finally we selected one that made all of us happy.

Blackwood Preparatory school was a medium sized school, with a strict student confidentiality policy, and a diverse curriculum. It was in Manhattan, and considered one of the best and most prestigious schools in the state, but Stiles would have to work with his options.

"I will contact the Headmaster right away and inform him of your decision. You'll start this coming Monday, which gives you plenty of time to buy the required uniform. We will see you tomorrow for Sunday dinner" Stiles grandfather said cheerfully, and Stiles couldn't help but think he had just been expertly manipulated.

"I'll see you then" Stiles grumbled, and his grandfather chuckled amusingly.

"Remember to keep your grades up, your head down and have a little fun. Your young and should enjoy it before you get old like us" Stiles grandfather laughed, and Stiles rolled his eyes and held the door open as they turned to leave.

"As long as you have no drug scandals, and try not to post any nudes online, I have a feeling we're going to get along swimmingly" Stiles grandmother kissed his cheek, and Stiles blushed hotly.

"O-oh! No, no, I promise, there will be no nudes! I mean, its not like I have anyone who I would send them to, I mean, you guys and George are the only people I've met here, and George isn't my type. Not that George isn't an attractive man for his age, and that's not me calling him old, I'm just saying... I'm gonna be quiet now. I'll see you both Sunday for dinner" Stiles whole face was bright red, and his grandparents were officially laughing at him now.

"Goodbye, dear. Have a look at what classes you want tonight, would you?" Stiles grandmother asked, and Stiles nodded in agreement as they left.

Closing the door behind them, Stiles fell onto the couch with a groan. It was only 7 PM, and he was already exhausted, but at the same time, it felt like an enormous weight had lifted off his shoulders. Stiles was out of Beacon Hills, he was in New York, he had an apartment, a job, and he started in a prestigious school in two days. He also was getting to know his grandparents, and maybe even his uncles, all of whom he'd never met before. Maybe he could even figure out what happened between them and his mom...

His growling stomach reminded Stiles he'd only eaten a bagel today, so he dragged himself to the kitchen and threw together a sandwich and a glass of water, before pulling out his phone and began to research his new classes.

He was taking mostly what he'd been taking before, there was only about a month and a half before exams, and he didn't have the time to relearn an entire course. He had to fill in an entrance exam for most the classes, but he was able to do it fairly quickly through the school website, and then he just emailed them his results, and waited half an hour before they sent him a confirmation letter saying he was now enrolled in AP English, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Math, Economics, Spanish, Art and Independent Study.

With nothing left to do, Stiles tided up the last few things he'd yet to put away, and fell into his new bed, not quite as comfortable as his bed in Beacon Hills, but it would grow on him.

"Home sweet home" Stiles whispered as he pulled out History of Magick, and he got through about three quarters of the book before he fell asleep n top of it.

Stiles woke up a little before 8:00 AM, and was showered, dressed and out the door by 8:45 AM, the occult shop was only a ten minute walk from his apartment.

"Ah! You must be Stiles, the novice Louise hired" an older woman smiled kindly when Stiles arrived, and he gave her a small smile.

"That would be me, and are you Maria?" Stiles asked as he set his bag down behind the counter, and the woman nodded, studying him carefully.

"Louise tells me your worried about your attributes, would you mind telling me what they are?" Maria asked kindly, and Stiles looked down at his hands.

"Um, Louise said they were blood and decay, storm and cold, deception and soul" Stiles said quietly as he fiddled with the things behind the counter, and Maria set soft hands on his, stilling his movement.

"Venom and sickness, starlight and fire, divination and destruction" Maria revealed, and Stiles looked at her with wide eyes.

"You... Your attributes are almost as bad as mine" Stiles smiled weakly, and she laughed amusedly.

"I'll give you a piece of advice, just because something can be dark, doesn't mean that's its only purpose. Venom has been used in healing for centuries, it just took me some time to learn how" Maria said gently, and then she wandered into the back, and Stiles pulled History of Magick out, and had just about finished when the first customer of the day walked in.

"I'm looking for some black dragonroot" a middle aged soccer mom said, and Stiles wandered over to the ingredients and rummaged around for a bit before finding the herb. He typed the four digit merchandise code, and weighed it.

"That'll be $7.27" Stiles said, and she swiped her credit card before leaving, only looking at him curiously for a few seconds.

"You know your potions ingredients" Maria hummed to his left, making Stiles nearly jump out of his skin.

"Only some of the basics" Stiles shrugged when Maria stopped laughing at him, and Maria hummed noncommittally.

"Black dragonroot isn't really that common, its mostly used in rituals. You'll sell more red or green dragonroot" Maria said, and Stiles shrugged, and pulled out Magical Theory Vol 1, and finished it by the time his shift was over, only a handful of people came in during his shift, and most of them knew hat they were looking for.

"I'll see you Wednesday, Stiles. Good work today" Maria smiled kindly as Stiles packed up his things, and refusing to take the books Louise gave him back.

"I'll just consider this your employee discount" Maria said firmly, and Stiles rolled his eyes, but put the books back in his messenger back, and turned to leave.

Walking back towards his apartment, Stiles sensed it when someone began to follow him and instead he disappeared into a coffee shop, where he curled up in the window seat with Ingredients and Techniques for Beginner Brewers, and a cup of joe balanced in his hand.

"Stiles Stilinski" a tall dark man greeted as he sat across from Stiles.

"Did you get tired of sitting with Mr. Garlic and Water Wings?" Stiles said innocently, tilting his head towards where a homeless man was sitting on the bus stop, ducky water wings on his arms, and a necklace of garlic cloves around his neck. Mr. Inconspicuous had spent the last fifteen minutes starring at Stiles from next to him.

"Your good" the man hummed, and Stiles didn't reply as he flipped the page of his book.

"What do you want?" Stiles looked up, and was faintly shocked to find he recognized this man, now that they were a few feet apart. This was one of Gerard's hunters, one of the guys to abduct Stiles from the game, he was probably one of the ones to torture Erica and Boyd.

"We have unfinished business" the man glowered, and Stiles snorted in amusement.

"Get in line, unless you want to end up behind Gerard" Stiles said, flicking another page, a blood poisoning curse ready on his lips. After reading, he knew just because his poisoning spells wouldn't be as strong as Maria's, didn't mean his didn't pack a nasty punch.

"You got some nerve; breaking into a respected hunter like Gerard's house, murdering him and then running away. There's no way the Hunter's Council will let you get away with this" the hunter smirked, and Stiles looked up, knowing his eyes had flashed molten silver, with flecks of black in them, when he used his decaying power, that black spread to his entire eye.

"Gerard would have killed me, he would have killed the two Hale betas, and I'm not sorry for what I did. But I'm sure the Hunter Council would be interested in how you attacked a perceived human" Stiles hummed, completely unconcerned, and the mans eyes darkened in rage.

"Filthy witch" he sneered, and then he left, and Stiles stayed there finishing his book before texting George to come pick him up for dinner, thoughts if the hunter pushed to the backburner for the time being.

Dinner with his grandparents went fairly quietly, Stiles chatted about his new job, the classes he'd chosen, and what the rest of the family had been up to. Stiles mom had two older brothers, both of which had two kids, who Stiles had met a couple times, but he'd never actually met his uncles or aunts. His Uncle Devin was in line to inherit the family company, and after that it would likely go to his son Kevin.

"George told me you had him pick you up from some coffee shop?" Grandmother asked as Stiles was getting ready to leave, and he sighed in frustration.

"There was just some tool bugging me, its fine" Stiles promised, and his grandmother did not look convinced, but agreed to let it go when Stiles told her George was driving him home again.

Stiles was prepared when he walked into his apartment, which was why he already had an enchanted pocket knife in his hand when a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him towards the wall. Stiles swiped out, stabbing the hunter in the arm, making him scream, releasing Stiles shoulders, other doors opening in the hallway.

"You bastard!" the hunter spat, and Stiles shoved him back into the hallway.

"You followed me home, you creep! Stay away from me, I'm calling the cops!" Stiles said loudly, his neighbors poking their heads out to see what was going on.

"This isn't over" the hunter snarled at him, and Stiles snatched his knife back, twisting it on the way out, and making him scream.

"Stay away from me, or I'll get a restraining order" Stiles said, and the hunter fled as more people came out of their apartments.

"Are you okay, honey? Your the new tenant, right?" an older woman asked kindly, and Stiles gave her a shy smile.

"I'm Stiles, I'm sorry about all this. That guy followed me from work, and tried to corner me in a coffee shop today" Stiles wrapped his arms around himself, and the woman's eyes sparked with fury.

"Don't worry, darling, that man isn't ever getting in here again" the woman said firmly, and Stiles smiled thankfully at her. After reassuring his neighbors that he was okay, he locked his door and resolved to looking into some wards before dragging himself to bed.

Tomorrow was his first day of a new school, and this time he didn't have Scott beside him...


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and original characters_

Stiles wasn't sure what to expect when he arrived at the school, he had seen the pictures, but he hadn't really realized just how extravagant the campus was. The school itself was a five story building, made of light grey stone and oak, and was all smooth curves and graceful lines. There was half a dozen gardens, three greenhouses, and an underground parking lot. The school had a Olympic sized indoor swimming pool, spa, and tennis court.

After the hour drive through morning Manhattan traffic, and three security checkpoints once he reached the school, Stiles only had three minutes until the first warning rang when he finally park.

"Shit shit shit, I'm going to be late" Stiles groaned as he ran towards the elevator, having to swipe his student ID in order for it to move, and head towards the third floor. According to his schedule, he had AP Math with Madame Kelvin. Stiles tossed his map around as he tried to navigate the hallways, getting lost a couple times before finding his classroom.

"Since this is your first day, I will forgive your tardiness, but do not let it become a habit" Madame Kelvin was a stern looking woman in her late sixties. She had every single one of her grey hairs pulled into extra tight bun, she wore a crisp black pantsuit, and held a tablet in her hands tightly.

Stiles scanned the room and found only one near the back beside a bunch of athletic boys in varsity jackets, and walked over, he slipped into the seat, and avoided Madame Kelvin's eyes as he pulled his school issued tablet, and a notebook out. A few people looked at his second hand things and snickered, but Stiles ignored them as he started following the lesson, jotting down the equations and any questions he had.

"Mr. Iskra, since you transferred into this class a month from exams, would you like to answer?" Madame Kelvin said, looking extremely unhappy, and Stiles groaned internally as he scanned the equation, and felt relieved because he understood this one.

"Sure" Stiles said, getting up and walking up to the front, he took the tablet and tablet pencil, and solved it in a few minutes, what he was doing was projected onto the board, and Madame Kelvin looked at it judgementally for a few minutes before nodding sharply at him.

"Welcome to Blackwood Prep, Mr. Iskra" Madame Kelvin said as Stiles returned to his seat, and most the people in his class looked impressed, except a few of the jocks.

Don't tell me knuckheads we're able to buy themselves into AP Math, Stiles thought, and watched throughout the lesson as most the jocks struggled to grasp the concepts, but they still managed to submit a passing assignment.

Except for one.

"Come on, dude, we gotta go" one of the jocks called, and the guy who had failed sighed and packed up his things, and Stiles did the same. The jock turned to say something to him when a girl appeared between them, wrapping an arm around the jocks waist possessively, and giving him a sharp smile.

"Hey, baby, who's the nerd?" The girl asked sweetly, and Stiles rolled his eyes, not thebleast but intimidated by this airheaded Barbie doll. At least Lydia had been a genius Barbie... God, he hoped she never figured out how to read minds and find him, because if she knew he called her a Barbie... RIP Stiles Stilinski...

"I'm Stiles, I'm new here" Stiles said as he sling his mess after bag across his shoulders.

"I can see that" she gave a disbarring look at his second hand uniform, and he rolled his eyes.

The uniform was fairly simple, just black slacks, a scarlet cashmere sweater, with a black tie, which had the school emblem, a scarlet dragon, on it. His uniform had obviously not been tailored to his specific measurements, but they were still in good quality, and just a little bit too tight. He had also used a spell to grow out his hair, and had ditched his contacts for a pair of black glasses.

"Well, this has been fun, but I have to get to AP Chemistry, so bye" Stiles rolled his eyes, and turned to leave when she grabbed his arm.

"We're not done here" the girl said coldly, and Stiles gave her his darkest look, and she quickly retreated into her boyfriends arms.

"I do believe we are" Stiles decided, and head towards his next class, which was two floors up.

Great, he was going to be late. Again.

After Chemistry, Stiles had English and Indeoendent Study, and before he knew it, he was standing in the cafeteria with no one to sit with, and a handful of bucks in his pocket.

"Stiles right" Ken Doll from earlier suddenly sat across from him, and Stiles just continued to stir his soup, and take a long sip from his water bottle.

"Yes. What do you want?" Stiles asked, and Ken doll smiled charmingly.

"Look, your very smart, I've been asking around and you've impressed all your teachers so far. You also don't care about football, and haven't drooled on me yet. I'm looking for someone to tutor me in math, if I don't pass the class, my dads going to pull me out of football next year, and I'm supposed to make Quarterback. Do you see where I'm going?" Ken Doll asked, and Stiles stared at him expesionlessly.

"How much?" Stiles asked, leaning back in his chair, and Ken Doll smiled.

"$20 an hour" Ken Doll said, and Stiles eyes his perfect quality clothes.

"Make it $30, and we have a deal. I can't tutor on Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday, but I'm free every other day" Stiles said, and Ken Doll sighed, but nodded in agreement.

"I have practice after school until 5 every Tuesday and Friday" Ken Doll said as he wrote his phone number on Stiles hand. For an athlete, Ken Doll had some very soft hands, and Stiles could see paint underneath his nails.

"You paint?" Stiles asked, and Ken Doll blanched, looking at Stiles in shock.

"No, I don't" he said defensively, and Stiles rolled his eyes. Jocks and their egos...

"Whatever. I'll text you my address, you can come over and we'll see where your at, and how much work I'm going to be putting into this" Stiles said, and Ken Doll nodded, and walked away to rejoin his friends, and Stiles went back to his soup.

"I really wouldn't help him, you know? Every tutor that David's had has ended up in his bed, regardless of gender" a girl said from behind him, and Stiles twisted to find a red haired girl looking at him.

"I doubt thats what he wants" Stiles scoffed, and the girl smiled knowingly.

"David has been in the same math class as Max for almost two years, and he's never asked him for tutoring," she pointed a skinny boy across the cafeteria, he had to weigh 90 pounds soaking wet, with frizzy brown hair, acne, and an unfortunate pair of braces.

"Oh-" Stiles opened his mouth, but the girl held up a finger.

"But he's asked Olivia," she pointed to a curvy Latina reading on a bench, "Abby," this girl was a tiny blonde girl, "Chris," she pointed to an agile brunette guy, "Steve," she pointed to a broad shouldered blonde guy, "and Brian" she pointed to a heavily pierced boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes.

"Huh" Stiles mused, looking down at his own body, and shrugging at the girl.

"Huh? That's it? Your just going to sleep with the bastard?" The girl demanded, and Stiles scoffed.

"Hardly. I'm going to teach him math, I can't think of a less sexy topic... He's hot, but I just got through... something. I don't know, but I know I'm no where near ready to get into bed with anyone, least of all a stranger" Stiles said, and the girl looked disgruntled, glaring at the back of David's head.

"He's disgusting, you could do a lot better than him" The girl grumbled, and Stiles raised an eyebrow at her.

"So, you two don't like each other?" Stiles snorted, and her face turned dark and angry, the expression twisting her otherwise beautiful features.

"We were dating when he went to Steve for tutoring" She said bluntly, and Stiles winced.

"Oh, so... I can understand the anger. The guy I was... involved with, before, I thought maybe... But he didn't trust me" Stiles shrugged, and the girl sat beside him, resting her chin in her palm.

"Guys suck, present company excluded" she said, and they toasted their coffee cups.

"Cheers to that. So, I didn't catch your name" Stiles said, and she smiled shyly.

"Sabrina. My name is Sabrina" she said, and pulled out a sandwich from her bag, they started chatting about her family, what the best places to eat in the city was, their favourite movies and shows, music, and frequent gossip.

"You play soccer? My old schools teams were pretty limited, lacross was our only good sport" Stiles shrugged, and she smiled.

"You any good?" She asked, and he laughed.

"Resident bench warmer. I'm so clumsy, I was horrible, but maybe I can find a sport I'm actually good at. I'm fast, and I know how to take a hit, I'm just not very strong, or coordinated" Stiles laughed, and Sabrina smiled.

"Well, boys soccer try outs are in the fall, you should try it out, and basketball is next spring. You never know, you might be better than you think" Sabrina shoulder bumped him, and they went back to talking about their classes when the bell rang and they realized they had the same art class.

"That's not too bad, you didn't mention your an artist" Sabrina beamed a half hour later, Stiles hadn't even realized what he'd been drawing, but when he looked, his throat tightened as he looked at the shadowed sketch of Derek's face, his eyes flashing Alpha red, he was smirking, confident and angry, like he knew he could kick anyone's ass, and yet it was also sexy as hell, like he could see through your clothes, liked what he seen, and planned on taking it for himself...

"Mr. Iskra, that's amazing!" Madame Brianna beamed as she looked at the sketch, and Stiles focussed on it, defining it more, Derek's face flashing in his mind, and when he was finished, it was an almost perfect replica.

"You should name it, and sign it" Sabrina nudged him, and he debated for a moment before writing it near the top.

Sourwolf by Little Red, Stiles smiled amusedly as he pulled back, and Sabrina sighed, looking awestruck as she looked at the sketch.

"That's amazing, Stiles, who did you draw?" Sabrina asked, and Stiles didn't hear her, too busy starring at Derek's face, and Stiles was horrified to find that he could see tears building in his eyes when he looked up.

"This is... This is the guy you were involved with? He's gorgeous, but he looks like a total asshole, you definitely deserve better" Sabrina said, and Stiles gave her a warm smile, embarrassingly rubbing at his cheek.

"Yeah, that's him" Stiles shrugged, and the bell rang, but before Stiles could go, Madame Brianna stopped him.

"Stiles, that piece you did today was stunning, I have someone I think would really be interested in it. Would you mind if I took it and showed it to them?" Madame Brianna asked, and Stiles looked down at the picture, unable to look away from it for a moment, before pulling the sketch from his book, and handing it to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Stiles said, leaving the room to find Sabrina had waited for him, and she was currently arguing heatedly with David.

"For fucks sake, even if I did sleep with him, it's none of your business who I fuck! I just needed a tutor, it is not my fault you think he's pretty!" David snarled, then he turned and stormed away, and Sabrina was silently fuming as Stiles walked over.

"That... That... Oh, I can't even!" Sabrina snarled, and Stiles studied her contemplatively.

"Why do you care? He's your ex, maybe you should just move on. Do you still have feelings for him?" Stiles asked kindly, and Sabrina scowled at him for a moment before deflating.

"He... He broke my heart. I just don't want anyone else to feel like that over that asswipe. I'm sorry, it really is none of my business if you two... I'm sorry" she flushed darkly, and Stiles wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay, I understand. If... Well, if I was in your place, I probably would be all kinds of bitter" Stiles said, and Sabrina relaxed, and they continued to Economics, which we also had together. After Economics, I had AP Biology, and she had AP English, then we had Spanish together again. Three out of eight, that's not too bad, and they were all in the afternoon.

After school, Stiles was walking towards his car in the parking lot when suddenly three athletes were leaning against his car, waiting for him.

"So, this is David's new toy? Not bad, don't you agree, Mark?" A pretty blonde boy asked, and Stiles set an unimpressed hand on his hip.

"I agree, James. Not really my type, but impressive" Mark smiled, his eyes playful as he looked at Stiles, and Stiles studied them carefully. They were relaxed, carefree and playful, and they hadn't damaged his car, so he didn't think they were trying to cause problems for him, probably just came to check out the merchandise.

"Well, you would be alone in that thought. Now, what is it that you want?" Stiles asked, and the guy that this far had been silent looked up.

"My sister tells me that picture you drew, the guy had red eyes. Like, really red eyes" The guy said, and Stiles sighed, beginning to understand.

Should have guessed, the were all star athletes, and if Stiles remembered, this team had been one of the best the school had had in years. That tends to happen when werewolves are involved, even if it was cheating, it was effective strategy.

"Hmm. Yes, he did. His real eyes are hazel, but I thought that represented him more. He's a real Alpha" Stiles said, and all three boys relaxed, having tensed up for a minutes.

"Oh, so, your not a hunted, right? I didn't think so, Iskra means Spark in Polish, and Spark lines tend to be magic users. Most hunters hate magic with a burning passion, after all, you choose magic, you don't choose the bite" Mark said, and Stiles smirked, and flashed silver eyes at them.

"Well, I haven't regretted my choice yet" Stiles said, and all three of them slowly stopped leaning on his car, which made him laugh, his eyes turning back to their normal whiskey colour.

"So, you were apart of a Pack? Are you interested in joining a new one?" James asked hopefully, and Stiles gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, but I left home to get away from near death experiences. I just want to survive high school, go to college, figure my life out" Stiles shrugged, and they looked disappointed, but not overly bothered.

"Anyway, we're a big Pack, but we're the only one in the area. Most Pack's prefer isolated forests, but living in a city makes it easier to avoid hunters. Mostly, it's us, David and a few others, but most of our Pack is older. There's a few witches, a fae, three kitsune, and a few hellhounds in school" Mark said, and Stiles hummed thoughtfully.

"And you is your Alpha? Do I need to register my presence with them?" Stiles asked, and James laughed.

"Oh no, if every supernatural who passed through New York had to tell our Alpha? He'd never get anything done, just don't cause any trouble or we'll hunt you down" Mark smiled toothily, and James rolled his eyes.

"Our Alpha is David's dad, he's also CEO of Ceaser Records, so he's really busy" James said, and Stiles raised an eyebrow at that.

"That explains why he can pay me $30 an hour to teach him math" Stiles mused, and James snickered.

"Let's just say David works best with a reward system" James laughed, and Stiles crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm fresh out of dog treats, so he'll have to do with the higher grades. Now move, I've gotta go" Stiles demanded, and they moved out of his way as he unlocked his car.

"I like him, maybe this one will last" James said to his friends as the three of them walked away.

"He's got a great ass, and did you see those pouty lips? David's always had a type" Mark snorted, and Stiles entire face flushed beet red, and he slammed his car door behind him, cutting off whatever they said next, but Stiles had a feeling they were laughing at him.

Stiles got back to his apartment around 3 and almost as soon as he had tossed his bag on the couch and had just stripped off his sweater and tie, when someone was knocking on his door. Buttoning his slacks up again, he swung it open, not even bothering to put on a new shirt, only to find David waiting on his doorstep.

"I didn't give you my address yet" Stiles said drily, and David smirked.

"James put a tracker on your car. Don't be too mad, it was dads orders, he wanted to know where you lived, just in case you were laying an ambush" David rolled his eyes, and Stiles grumbled as he stepped aside, letting him inside, and he made himself at home on Stiles couch.

"Looks like your missing some furtniture, you live alone?" David asked, and Stiles ran a hand through his hair, locking the door behind him, and head for his bedroom, pulling his slacks and socks off, he pulled on a pair of sweats and a tank top, before walking out to his kitchen, amd made them both a cup of coffee as David flipped through his math notes.

"Whoa, these are like another language. You have a lot of side notes, telling yourself to research other stuff" David observed, and Stiles felt his cheeks flush.

"I have ADHD, so sometimes my brain just wanders off" Stiles shrugged as he walked over to him, handing him a cup of coffee, and Stiles folded his legs under him as he took his notes back, setting it on the floor, he began to quiz David, using alternate questions from the enternace exam he had taken in order to get into AP Math, and after about an hour, they were both ready to pull their hair out in frustration.

"Alright, from what I can tell, your having so much trouble because you don't have the background necessary to do the advanced stuff. We'll work from the bottom, and make our way up" Stiles said, and David smirked playfully.

"My kind of night" he snarked, and Stiles cheeks flushed, and suddenly he realized just how attractive David was. He was built like a lot of the other football players, tall, broad shouldered, with thick thighs and arms, but a thinner waist, he was completely built, but not quite as some of the others on the team. He was built to be faster than he was strong, and since he looked pretty damn strong, he must be really fast. It wasn't just his body either, he had messy dark hair, soft green eyes, tanned skin, high cheekbones and a great smile. He was really hot, but that didn't soften Stiles resolve to not fall into bed with this dude after only an hour.

"Really? Because I prefer to mix it up. A little bit of chocolate," Stiles looked at David's mouth "and a little vanilla" Stiles gave a pointed look to his lap, and David laughed loudly.

"Oh, I like you. I might actually get some work done after all" David mused, and Stiles smiled playfully, shooting him a coy look through his lashes.

"I'm not the swooning type, the last guy I was with was quite the sour wolf" Stiles smiled, and David chuckled.

"Well, where do we start?" He ran a hand through his hair, and Stiles quizzed him again, walking him through the basics, all of which he got perfect, until they found the point where he was struggling, and Stiles notes down what they would need to work on.

"I'll try and find some equations online, and we'll get together again Thursday, and maybe again on Saturday. Three days a week isn't too bad, what do you think?" David asked, and Stiles hummed.

"Three hours a session, that's $270 a week, until exams in six weeks, that's $1620. We have a deal, Mr. Wilkes" Stiles held out a hand, and they shook on it.

"I'll see you at school. Thanks for doing this, Stiles" David collected his things, and Stiles took his empty coffee cup and returned them to the sink.

"Trust me, it's more than fine" Stiles said, opening the door for him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, your getting paid to be around my charming self. Plus, your a math guy, the odds that we grow closer is extremely high" David winked at him, and Stiles raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Cocky bastard...

"How about this, when you and Sabrina patch up your issues, I'll think about having sex with you. Until then, I'm your designated tutor" Stiles smiled sweetly when David winced, something a little like regret flashing in his eyes.

"You know, me and Sabrina were friends before we dated, we went to the same elementary school, and I had the biggest crush on her since kindergarten" David smiled ruefully, and Stiles leaned against the doorframe, curious despite it being none of his business.

"So why'd you cheat?" Stiles asked, and David looked down, shame and guilt on his face.

"Because... I don't know, I just did. We were only together four months, but it was my longest relationship, and then I hired Steve, and... I guess I just have poor self control" David sighed, and Stiles lightly punched him in the arm.

"You ever think of just apologizing to her? Telling her you didn't mean to hurt her feelings and you regret it?" Stiles asked, and David scoffed.

"She wouldn't care, she'd probably just mock me. Whatever, we only have two classes together this semester" David shook his head, and Stiles hummed, disagreeing with his decision, but it wasn't his decision to make.

"I'll see you tomorrow, David, have a good night" Stiles smiled, and David smiled back.

"Good night, Stiles. And hey, even if we don't have sex, which would be a shame, we can still be friends" David shrugged, and Stiles smiled at him playfully.

"We'll see" Stiles said teasingly, and David laughed as Stiles closed the door in his face.

Stiles might have been worried, but even without Scott beside him, Stiles hadn't had such a good time in a long time. Maybe everything would work out after all, he could live here, work at the shop, get to know his moms family, make some friends, and, maybe, one day get over Derek, and fall in love with someone else.

Because he had loved Derek, even if they were never together, and they only had sex once. He had held Derek up in that pool for two hours, Derek had saved his life a few times. A part of him would always love Derek, but the rest of him... The rest of him was hurt and rejected and alone, and he knew it was going to take him a while before he was ready to put himself back out there... But maybe one day...

Those were the thoughts running through his head when someone knocked on his door, who he assumed was David, he'd probably forgotten something.

"What did you forget, I thought you had..." Stiles froze, his hands going numbed as he gripped the open door, his entire focus on the Hale on his doorstep...


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and original characters_

 _Ps. This one is kind of shorter, but it felt right to end it where I did_

It wasn't Derek.

He couldn't be sure if he was relived or not, because he doesn't think he could mentally handle being relieved to see Peter Hale, alive and well, on his welcome mat.

"What? Are you not going to let me in?" Peter gave a mocking pout, and Stiles starred at him expressionlessly for several minutes, before taking one step back and opened his door, letting the former Alpha into his apartment, where he immediately scented a foreign werewolf in the room and on Stiles. He could already feel the judgment flowing off the man.

"Well, you certainly don't waste any time. My nephew will be heartbroken" Peter smirked, and Stiles looked him in the eyes.

"Probably not as much as when you tore his sister to pieces for him to find. I'm going to make some coffee, would you like any? No? Suit yourself" Stiles smiled pleasantly, and could feel Peter glaring at his back as he walked towards his kitchen.

"So much as happened since you burned me alive, and my nephew slashed my throat. You and my nephew getting handsy, Scott alienating you, the falling out with your dad, and Erica had so much to say about your magic..." Peter smirked when Stiles closed his cupboard a little too hard, but Stiles tried not to let the wolf get to him.

"All wonderful reasons why I left, so why are you here? How did you even find me..." Stiles trailed off, and Peter smirked knowingly.

"Well, with how the Pack is panicking at your disappearance, I got curious. Imagine my surprise when I find your mothers estranged parents had placed quite the bribe to a local prep school, I just found it so funny that a plane to the same city was leaving from the airport a few minutes after your little call. Really, all it took was one little spell after that to narrow down your location, and send ahead a mutual friend of ours to see how you were doing" Peter smiled angelically, and Stiles scowled at him.

"The hunter, you sent him after me to see how I'd handle it" Stiles declared, and Peter looked positively thrilled.

"And you did so well, the hunter didn't even realize the knife you stabbed him with was cursed. Police found him dead today, an overdose they said, and no one suspected you" Peter beamed, and Stiles took a deep calming breath.

"So, what do you want?" Stiles repeated, and Peter studied him.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you weren't dying in a ditch, this way I can honestly tell Derek that you are okay. You've done remarkably well, and fairly quickly as well, an apartment, a job, your enrolled in a prestigious school, you've already got some friends, and a wolf on the side" Peter smiled, looking slightly rueful, and Stiles raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah? And what? Your gonna blackmail me? Drag me back to Beacon Hills?" Stiles scoffed, his hands tightening on his coffee cup, and Peter studied him.

"No, Stiles, I'm not. You... You smell happier than I've ever seen you, so I'll keep your secret. It just makes me wonder what would have happened if Scott was caught instead of you. You've managed all this in a few days, and Scott can barely tie his shoes with you gone... I have no doubt that if I had bitten you, I wouldn't have lost... You would have made such a beautiful wolf, but its a shame it would have cut you off from most of your magic" Peter smiled, and Stiles cheeks flushed as he looked down at his coffee.

"So, you just came here to be creepy then" Stiles said as he raised his coffee to his mouth, and Peter smirked, dragging his eyes up and down Stiles body approvingly, making Stiles choke on his coffee, and Peter laughed at him.

"Relax, I am more inclined towards Chris Argent than yourself. My nephew might be attracted to your jailbait allure, but I prefer something a little more mature. It is surprising that Derek could even stomach touching you though" Peter said, and Stiles heart plummeted and the coffee in his mouth turned sour.

"Right, well, everyone makes mistakes" Stiles said bitterly, and Peter looked at him in surprise, then suddenly he looked frustrated and rueful.

"Right, its not that unexpected that Derek wouldn't tell you. Unfortunately, that must have made you come to the wrong conclusion" Peter said, and Stiles looked up from his coffee cup.

"What? Derek wasn't exactly big on sharing, we barely even knew each other... What didn't he tell me that was so important, he married?" Stiles snorted, and Peter looked at him sharply.

"No, but his last serious girlfriend burned his family alive" Peter said expressionlessly, and suddenly Stiles was sick to his stomach for an entirely different reason.

"Derek was sixteen at the time of the fire, and Kate was probably in her late twenties" Stiles said through his teeth, fury burning in the pit of his stomach, and Peter didn't say anything, just leaving Stiles to stew in his anger.

"Derek couldn't be more different from Kate, but when he came around to realizing how young you were? Its no surprise he pushed you away" Peter said, and Stiles couldn't stop the silent ears that rolled down his cheeks as he looked at his coffee like it might hold all the answers to his problems.

"Things between me and Derek wouldn't have worked, and its not because of our age gap, its because the man doesn't trust anyone... You cant truly love someone you don't trust... He never would have loved me back..." Stiles whispered, and Peter looked at him with wide eyes.

"You love him? I thought it was just... Sex and a crush gone bad" Peter said, and Stiles avoided his eyes.

"He... I loved him, he was beautiful, broken, but beautiful. Like a puzzle, put all the pieces together, you can still see the scars, but it still forms a pretty picture" Stiles said, suddenly exhausted, and Peter studied him carefully for a moment.

"If things had worked out differently... I think Talia would have loved to have you as a son in law" Peter smiled sadly, looking down at his hands, and Stiles ran a hand through his hair.

"You know, I did some research on the fire when you were on your murder spree, and something about the number of bodies found doesn't sit right with me... Its just a feeling, but, well, I found this bloodline spell, I just need a Hale" Stiles said, and Peter stopped breathing, his body locking up.

"If your wrong, and no one managed to get out..." Peter trailed off, and Stiles gave him some time to process what he was offering. Stiles was pouring himself a new cup of coffee, when Peter finally made up his mind.

"I have everything I need, just let me set it up" Stiles grabbed a globe, an atheme and a baggie of mountain ash. He threw the ash up in the air, and it settled into a perfect circle around him and Peter, then he knelt by the globe, and reached for Peter's hand, and cut open his hand, dripping three drops onto the top of the globe, and watched as the blood moved, covering the globe, and finally it locked onto three people, settling over where Beacon Hills was, and Stiles and Peter shared a look.

"Maybe its just focusing on Derek?" Peter frowned, and Stiles, pressed his finger against the blood and focused on his power. One of his attributes was blood, and it couldn't just be the violent side of magic, so maybe he could do this. Maybe he could see them... There was a hooking sensation in his stomach, and when Stiles opened his eyes, he was kneeling on the ground, a few feet away from Derek, who had his back turned.

"What do you mean Jackson and Isaac are missing?! How did they just disappear?" Derek demanded of Scott, and Scott sighed heavily.

"Isaac was at Jackson's, trying to convince him to join the pack, and something felt off, so I went to check on them, and they were gone. It smelt like two werewolves, that's why I'm here. Derek, you have more experience with this, can you tell if their apart of the Alpha Pack?" Scott asked hopefully, handing Derek a sweater, and Derek inhaled deeply.

"Its definitely Alpha, their scents are always stronger... But... Is it just me, or do you smell... Magic... Blood... Peter... And... Stiles" Derek whipped around, his eyes flashing red, and suddenly Derek could see him, but Scott couldn't, not even when he flashed his eyes, and Stiles neck suddenly ached.

"Are you sure? I don't smell anything?" Scott said uncertainly, and Stiles looked at his best friend, searching his face, but despite looking stressed, he seemed fine. Happy, even...

The hooking sensation returned, and when Stiles blinked, he found he was in a vault, standing in front of a brunette woman with the most disgusting pedicure Stiles had ever seen.

"What" a girl around Stiles age whispered, and Stiles noticed she was chained to a wall, Isaac and Jackson unconscious a few feet away.

So only the Hale's could see him because he's looking for them...

"You must be Cora or Thea Hale, I'm Stiles. I'm using Peter's blood to search for survivors..." Stiles trailed off, and her eyes widened.

"Who?" she whispered, and Stiles smiled warmly at her.

"Derek, Laura and Peter survived, but Laura died a few months ago" Stiles admitted, and her face fell slightly.

"Who are they?" Cora looked at the alpha, but Stiles knew she was asking him.

"Derek is an Alpha, these are his betas. Can you tell me where you are?" Stiles asked, and Cora looked at a symbol on the floor when the Alpha stepped towards her threateningly. Luckily, Stiles recognized the symbol, they were in Beacon Hills First National Bank.

"What do you want with us?" Cora asked the alpha, and refused to cower when the alpha snarled at her to be quiet.

"Don't worry, you wont be here much longer" Stiles promised, and Cora didn't smile, but her eyes were warm as the hooking sensation returned again, and Stiles was suddenly in a forest.

"Okay. What..." he trailed off, looking around, and froze when he seen a coyote looking at him, her fur raised, werewolf blue eyes glowing at him, and Stiles flared his own silver eyes, and he must have done something because suddenly his magic was no longer inside his body, instead it had exploded from his body and had knocked several trees to the ground, dirt and leaves suddenly flying through the air... And when it settled, Stiles found not just a naked teenage girl, but also a few drops of old blood on the ground were glowing silver, and Stiles realized why this clearing was familiar, and why this unknown Hale was drawn to it...

This is where Peter killed Laura...

Stiles doesn't know what happened after this, but he woke up to Peter shaking him roughly.

"What did you do?" Peter demanded, looking panicked and afraid, and Stiles first adrenaline rush through him as he sat up quickly, looking around his apartment, but everything seemed fine.

"I... What happened?" Stiles asked, confused and disoriented, and Peter gave him an incredulous look.

"What happened?! How about activate three pack bonds to the niece I thought was dead, the daughter I didn't know existed, and the other niece I _killed_!" Peter growled lowly, his eyes wide, tears welling up in them, and Stiles didn't know how to react to that.

"What?! Laura was literally cut into pieces, how did I bring her back?" Stiles asked, and Peter took several calming breaths.

"Because her body was reassembled in the casket, and you are way more powerful than I'd imagined" Peter choked out, and suddenly Peter had wrapped him in a tight hug, and Stiles gently wrapped his arms around him, Higgin him back as the wolf cried into his shoulder.

"Wait... Wait, Peter, wait, you need to call Derek. Peter! Call Derek, you need to tell him Cora is in danger" Stiles demanded, and Peter immediately pulled his phone out and dialed his nephew, with Stiles sitting a foo away, able to hear everything they said.

"Peter, unless you know what happened, I don't want to hear it" Derek growled, and Peter cleared his throat, his eyes still red.

"I found Stiles, and he... He did a spell to search for other Hale's, and he found you, and... Cora. He found Cora, Derek, she's alive. And I also have a daughter I never knew about, she... she was stuck as a coyote, and when Stiles turned her back, he... he might have accidentally resurrected Laur, so you might have to dig up her grave" Peter rushed out, his voice raw, and Derek was silent.

"Cora... and Laura" Derek whispered, and Stiles tried to gather all his strength as he took the phone with gentle hands as Peter started to cry again.

"Cora is with Jackson and Isaac at Beacon Hills First National Bank, she's in trouble... And I don't know how I brought Laura back" Stiles said, trying to keep his voice even.

"Stiles, please come home" Derek whispered, and Stiles felt the tears roll down his cheeks before he even realized he was crying.

"Please, just... Let me go, Derek, don't follow me... I need this..." Stiles whispered, and Peter set a hand on his shoulder.

"Stiles, I'm so sorry. I know... I know what happened... its why you left, but... Your dad and Scott need you" Derek said, his voice shaking slightly.

"Why do you think I left, Derek? You might have been a factor, but it wasn't the reason... I was drowning, Derek, and no one noticed... I need to be strong on my own, so please... Just let me go, and I'll come back when I'm ready" Stiles pleaded, and Derek's breath hitched.

"I'm sorry, I never should have... I should have been stronger, I should have seen..." Derek whispered, and Stiles wiped his tears.

"I never had a problem with the age gap, Derek, I knew that if I'd asked, you would have stopped without question... The reason we never would have worked, is you never could have trusted me until you learnt to trust yourself... You were right though, nothing is more important than your Pack, so go save them, and never let them go. Don't push them away, like you pushed me away... Goodbye, Derek" Stiles said, his tone was gentle, his hurt and affection both warring with each other.

"Stiles, don't go-" Derek pleaded, but he hung up, giving Peter his phone back, and Peter rubbed his palm against Stiles neck, scenting him, and Stiles gave him a weary smile.

"I have to go, but consider us even... And Stiles, you might not be my beta, but you are definitely Pack" Peter looked at him warmly, and then he left, leaving only a slip of paper with his phone number on it.

What a day...


	5. Chapter 5

Stiles didn't sleep well that night.

After his conversation with Derek, he felt a little bit better, but mostly, he just felt exhausted, his wounds felt even more painful than before. Stiles felt completely justified that he spent most the night sobbing into his pillow, but when he woke at 6:30 AM, and had to drag himself through his routine, and then out the door, he just felt tired. Stiles knew he looked horrible, but the way David looked at him, you would think he was already half decomposed.

"What happened between me leaving and... this" David gestured at his face, and Stiles gave him a irritated glare.

"Such a charmer, really, I'm speechless," Stiles grumbled, and David only raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue, "And if you must know, I called my ex and... it was about as bad as I had been expecting, and my expectations had been very low" Stiles ran a hand through his hair, and James looked over, his mouth pinched.

"What did he say to you?" David barely contained the growl Stiles could see he wanted to let out.

"He asked me to come home" Stiles said in a barely audible whisper, and David looked at him, but Stiles didn't meet his eyes as he focused on his work. Even half conscious and in a world of anguish, he still managed to follow the lesson well enough.

"Will you be okay?" David asked, and Stiles thought about it, knowing lying would be useless.

Would he be okay? Yes,he realized, he would grieve from the life he'd left behind, but he knew he could be happy here. He could go to school, work, learn magic, and make friends... He could be a normal teenager... Or a normal magic using teenager...

"Yes. I'll be okay, not right away, but I will be" Stiles whispered, and David turned back to his work, semi satisfied, for the time being.

* * *

Stiles made it to lunch before finally giving into the constant ringing his cell phone had been doing. Peter had been calling him for the past six hours, and Stiles would bet everything he had that it was not Peter on the other end. Peter had installed some sort of programming that stopped his phone from being traced, but... He wasn't ready to talk to Scott, his dad, or Derek quite yet...

"Hello" Stiles finally answered after sitting in the bathroom listening to the ringing for the sixth time in a half hour.

"Stilinski, if you hang up I swear to god, you will deal with Lydia" Jackson growled, and Stiles jaw dropped in shock.

"I, uh, I got to say... Not who I was expecting" Stiles admitted, and Jackson scoffed.

"Yes, well, you saved my life, and convinced me having a Pack wouldn't be too bad... I just wanted to let you know if you don't contact Lydia, your death is your own fault" Jackson said curtly, and Stiles took a deep breath.

"Jackson, I don't think the Pack quite understands the term "no contact", but let me enlighten you. I need to figure my shit out for myself, and I can't do that if I come running back the second someone gets a paper cut. I know myself well enough to know, that if I talk to Scott, or my dad, I'll cave, and I will regret it" Stiles said, and Jackson went quiet.

"Is this about me and Lydia? She told me you were there for her when I was being... Well, a jerk" Jackson said, guilt coating his tone, and Stiles sighed, leaning his head into his knees.

"I think... I think I'm over Lydia, she's beautiful, and smart, and fierce, but she is also way too high maintenance, and she scares me. I just... Lydia is a genius, and I've always seen her for who she really is, but she didn't see me. She... She didn't see me struggling, and I wasn't exactly hiding it well" Stiles admitted, and Jackson was silent for a minute.

"Yeah, I can't tell Lydia that, you might actually make her cry" Jackson decided, and Stiles laughed, short and sharp, but a laugh nonetheless, and he would bet that, on the other line, Jackson might be smiling.

Stiles walked out of the bathroom, emotionally exhausted, and he just wanted to go home and cry, but knew he had to keep moving, even when he wanted to fall. He didn't have anyone to catch him, and it was always easier to fall than it was to get back up, so he would keep moving until he couldn't anymore...

He wasn't expecting to find James waiting outside the bathroom for him, worried eyes scanning his face, his eyes looking away in a horrible attempt to appear innocent.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Stiles frowned, and James flushed, looking uncomfortable.

"Only a little bit... can you tell me a bit about your old Pack? Which... Who was that?" James asked, and Stiles pulled in a deep breath, and nodded, wrapping his arm through James, and lead him over to the table Sabrina had saved for them.

"Stiles..." Sabrina looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Stiles just shoved James into the chair across from the redhead, and sat beside him.

"Alright, so you wanna know about my friends back home? Well, its a long story, and it starts with my friend Scott..." Stiles began, and then he told the two of them about how Scott distanced himself from Stiles once he got popular, then he met Derek, who wanted help figuring out who killed his sister, and Stiles just kind of got involved, then after Derek's uncle was dealt with, Stiles met Isaac, Boyd and Erica, and then he told them about Alison's crazy grandfather blaming Derek for Kate's death, and how he kidnapped Stiles, Erica and Boyd, and Stiles did something he hadn't known he could do that scared Erica and Boyd. he also told them about Matt's killing spree, and nearly dying. Then he found out Scott was working with Gerard because he'd threatened him, but he hadn't told Stiles, and then the fight with his dad, and what happened between him and Derek.

"So, I contacted my grandparents, and they brought me out to New York..." Stiles trailed off, exhausted, and James body was drawn tight, his entire focus on not wolfing out, and Stiles set a hand on his knee.

"Your friends sound like assholes, that's not how you treat your friends... And Derek was obviously off his rocker, I mean, why the hell wouldn't he trust you? You saved his life" James said, and Stiles looked down at his hands.

"Well, he's had a lot happen to him..." Stiles sighed, and James scowled.

"That's no excuse to hurt you" James said bitterly, and Stiles studied him carefully.

"Why are you so angry? I mean, you barely know me, its my second day and I'm just your friends tutor" Stiles pointed out, and James crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I've decided your my friend now, and there's no getting rid of me now" James declared, and Stiles cheeks flushed.

"Okay. But I am not sitting with the football team, I'm your friend, not your girlfriend" Stiles said, and James smirked slyly at him, and Stiles channeled his magic into his hand as he shoved James out of his chair, and several wolves all looked over at him in shock.

"Ouch" James complained, rubbing his ass, and Stiles rolled his eyes, his cheeks red.

"Well, you deserved it. I don't know what's with you and David, but I know its not me because I look the same as I did before. What drugs are you taking, and can I get some?" Stiles snarked, and James looked at him, incredulous.

"You cannot be serious... You honestly don't know how hot you are? Damn, is everyone in your hometown blind?" James tilted his head curiously, and Stiles blushed again.

"No, I'm scrawny, and awkward, I talk too much, and I never stop moving" Stiles grumbled, and James gave him bedroom eyes, making Stiles stomach tighten deliciously.

No! Bad Stiles! Do not get turned on in front of the werewolf! Judging by the smirk on James lips, his body hadn't listened to his reprimand.

"Shut up." Stiles said shortly, his cheeks permanently red, and James smiled innocently.

"I didn't do anything" James bat his eyelashes at him, and Stiles scowled at him.

"You know, the reason I'm not friends with any cheerleaders is I'm invisible beside them, I hadn't thought I'd have to worry about that with you" Sabrina said drily as she took a big bite out of her apple.

"Your my best friends ex, I cant flirt with you. Its a rule, otherwise I would totally make a move" James smiled playfully at the redhead, and choked on her apple, her face flushing red.

"We are quite the pair, Miss Sabrina" Stiles laughed, and she looked down shyly.

"I don't like you anymore" she sulked, and Stiles laughed, tossing a napkin at her, and she rolled her eyes fondly.

"Come on, the bells about to ring" Stiles said, and James pouted as David and Mark arrived to drag him off to English, and Stiles and Sabrina head to art.

That day, Stiles let his magic guild his pencil while he talked to Sabrina about some of his childhood stories, and she drew a self portrait. It was only when they were leaving for Economics that Stiles realized the four different sketches he'd drawn were a set of tattoos, all depicted from different angles.

Oh shit.

* * *

After talking with Louise the next day, she had informed him that yes, he did have to get the tattoos, he couldn't just ignore the message his magic was trying to give him... But that was a lot of ink, a lot of needles, when they were done, it would cover basically 50% of his skin...

It took him a couple more weeks to finally go to the friend Louise had recommended, and another two hours of sitting on his couch before Stiles would even take his shirt off and sit on the table, then another hour for him to lay down, and let the man do his job. in the end, it wasn't even that bad, and Cam was swift and professional, he followed the detailed sketch of the first section to the letter. Louise and him had spent hours dissecting these sections, find what they did, what all the ways of doing it were, why his magic wanted it this way, ect... they had both agreed that he had to get the big one first, even though the thought of needles made him queasy. The first tattoo was an extremely complicated and detailed Conductor rune, which would store his magic, and when he needed, it would give him a major power boost. Louise wasn't even sure he'd be able to handle that much magic...

When Cam had finished, he helped the queasy boy up and lead him to a mirror, where Stiles took in the swirling black lines that covered his stomach and curved around his hips, covering his lower back, and touched the top of his ass. his skin was raw and swollen, but when he flashed his eyes at himself in the mirror, he watched that black ink burn silver, and felt more connected to his magic than he ever had.

"Thanks for putting up with me" Stiles blushed as he handed Cam a handful of bills, and he smirked at the teenager.

"Don't mention it" Cam winked at him, and Stiles was still blushing when he made it home.

Why was all the people in this godforsaken city so hot? David, James, even Mark, and now Cam... This was probably Derek's fault, he triggered Stiles sexual urges after taking his virginity, so now he was just prepared to jump anything that moves...

And, yeah, Stiles is pretty sure that theory is bullshit, but it makes him feel better, so he was going with that...

* * *

By the time Stiles had gotten his tattoo, he'd been in New York for three weeks, and things were pretty great in his life. He'd gotten to the point where he was beginning to settle into his apartment, he'd bought a coffee table, a rug and a nightstand. He was working Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, he had family dinner on Sunday's, where the rest of the family had started showing up to mingle, he tutored David Monday, Thursday and Saturday, and, honestly, they did just as much hanging out as they did studying, every Tuesday, he and Sabrina would go watch the football practice and check out the guys on the team, then they'd go to James' house for movie night. Every Thursday night, he went over to Madame Brianna's house, where she was giving him art lessons, and taking the finished product to some mysterious buyer. They had gone from pencil, to pencil crayons, to charcoal, to paint, and Stiles was having the time of his life.

He had been so busy, he'd barely had the chance to just take a deep breath, and think about everything that had happened.

And that's why, he didn't understand when he started crying when James scent marked him as he went to get in his car. James wasn't his Pack, and Stiles wasn't sure he'd ever be able to have a Pack again, but he was important to Stiles now. In the three short weeks they'd known each other, James had begun healing months, maybe even years, worth of cuts and bruises. Stiles was not remotely close to being healed. There were some wounds etched into his skin that Stiles knew would scab over, but never truly heal, but James, Sabrina, and David, they soothed the ache. They kept him distracted from the pain, stayed beside him when he needed them, and he knew, in that moment, that these basically strangers, would catch him if he fell apart.

So he did.

His body shook with sobs, and he threw himself into James arms, and felt James arms wrap tightly around him, holding him up, and letting him cry his heart out into his shoulder.

"Can I join in?" Sabrina asked, and James shifted them so Sabrina could squeeze against their sides.

"I-I'm so-so-sorry... I..." Stiles sobbed, and James pressed a soft kiss against his temple.

"You never have to apologize for what they did to you... Never" James said, and Stiles slowly managed to pull himself back together, James nuzzling against his neck, and Sabrina rubbing soothing circles into his back, their combined scents filling his head, cauterizing a few open cuts along the way.

James was smelt like basil or sage, and a bit like cherries, while Sabrina was honey and peaches, with a hint of lemon... Inhaling their scents, Stiles couldn't help but think of wood smoke and mint, dark chocolate and cinnamon... And if he started crying against James neck again, no one had to know why...

* * *

Stiles had let Peter give Jackson, Isaac, Cora and Laura his phone number, so long as he made sure it couldn't be traced. They never talked about what was happening in Beacon Hills, why he left, or where he was, and it was really nice, to bond with people he'd never thought he might have like before. Especially Jackson. That was a surprise. James, Sabrina and David hovered like old ladies for days after his breakdown, but he didn't mind. Stiles was learning magic while working at the shop, he was still barely a novice, but Louise had seemed more surprised after every lesson, and he'd yet to come across a spell he couldn't master... well, his fire could be problematic, but considering one of his attributes was cold, he wasn't surprised. Since he was still learning the basics, he hadn't done any accidental necromancy, but he was learning a bit about all the ways his attributes could be used, and he was beginning to settle into his magic more and more each day. He'd gotten the next section of his tattoo the day before his exam, this one was the Speed rune, which he had done down the center of his ribs, connecting directly to the Conductor rune. And using the speed rune to dance around David, James, and Mark attempted to catch him was more fun than he'd ever thought it would be.

So, Stiles was healing, but he wasn't healed. Sometimes he fell apart, sometimes he felt weak, and that was okay. The whole point of Stiles leaving Beacon Hills was to be strong on his own, and in order to learn to be strong, sometimes you had to be weak.

Stiles wasn't okay, but he would be. In time.

* * *

Exams passed uneventfully for Stiles, he spent more time preparing David than he did studying for his own exams, and before he knew it, he was walking out of his math exam. David was beside him, and for a werewolf, he looked sick to his stomach, he was white as a sheet, and shaking slightly.

"Hey, I'm sure you did great. Relax" Stiles rubbed David's back, and David seemed to close his eyes and listen to Stiles heartbeat until he calmed down.

"Thanks" David's cheeks darkened, and Stiles gave him a fond smile, watching as David's stress seemed to melt off of him, at least for a couple hours before he started pacing again.

"Alright, lets take this energy of yours outside. Come on, James, Mark, I'm going to run circles around your future captain" Stiles decided, and all three football players looked exasperated as they looked at him.

"Quarterback" They all corrected, and Stiles waved a hand dismissively as they made their way outside, and the four of them stripped off their sweater and tie, leaving themselves bare chested, and spent the next hour running around field. Stiles didn't activate the speed rune, but even dormant, it gave him a boost in speed that let him dance around the three werewolves, ducking when they tried to tackle him.

"What is this? Our star players are being outdone by a nerd, I guess I didn't push you enough in practice this season" Coach Gregory practically materialized, and Stiles suddenly tripped over his own feet as he went to turn, and ground as James landed on top of him.

"Stiles is really fast, and he's smaller" David said defensively, and Stiles laughed from underneath James, who still hadn't moved from where he was sprawled out on top of him.

"You do any sports, kid? And, James, what did I say about smothering the other boys?" Coach sighed, and James smiled cheekily up at him.

"That they all want me, even if they don't know it" James said seriously, and Coach levelled him with a glare, and James reluctantly got up, pulling Stiles up with him.

"No, I don't play any sports" Stiles told the Coach, and he assessed Stiles build, and then looked at his three best players.

"Find him a sport to play next year, or I might forget to check the weather network for all of next season" Coach smiled evilly as the three boys all groaned despairingly.

"I'm sure we could find you something... Soccer, maybe? Swimming? Everyone cam swim" David sighed, and James face lit up.

"You'd look great, I mean, you'd do great" James said playfully, and Stiles punched him in the shoulder, his face red, and Coach just sighed in exasperation.

"I swear, if you weren't such a good player, you would not be worth the grey hairs you give me. I'm just waiting for the sexual harassment lawsuits to start coming" Coach said, and James pouted playfully at him, and Stiles just shook his head in fond exasperation.

"I would, but I'm broke, so I'll have to settle for knocking him on his ass" Stiles said, and James gasped in betrayal, David and Mark burst into laughter, and Coach tried valiantly not to smile.

"Get out of here, don't you all have exams to study for?" Coach asked, and Stiles groaned as suddenly all the color drained fro David's face, and James and Mark suddenly disappeared, leaving me to handle David.

"Really? He was just starting to relax" Stiles grumbled as he grabbed David by the shoulders, and directed him back towards their shirts.

"I'm gonna go find James and Mark" Sabrina said when we walked over, the tension between her and David had been building for weeks, and Stiles was just praying the explosion came _after_ exams.

"Come on, I'll help you study for your Chemistry exam. Your better with Spanish, anyway" Stiles said, and David was practically green by the time they made it to Stiles apartment. The horrors of having a car in New York, but a lot of rituals had to be done outside the city, and Stiles needed a car to drive there. Plus, he hated public transit. There was a reason Stiles never took the bus in Beacon Hills.

Stiles helped David revise until nearly 1 AM, when he finally closed David's notes and told him to get out, or he would call his Alpha. He knew I was serious when I pulled the Alpha card.

"David, you'll be fine" Stiles said firmly, and David groaned into his shoulder, sending all kinds of shivers down his spine.

Stiles was well aware of the betting pool going around about when he and David would have sex, and so far, he had lasted longer than most the others. Brian had only lasted two weeks, while Steve had made it two months, and Stiles was three weeks away from breaking the record. At this point, he was kind of just debating if he should make his own anonymous bet and then collect the winnings.

Food for thought...

"I can smell your arousal, you know?" David smirked against his neck, and Stiles dug his hands into the werewolf's sides, making him jump back, pouting.

"I'll see you tomorrow, when your not stressed and sleep deprived" Stiles said firmly, and David looked at him with bedroom eyes, as if he was already imagining what Stiles looked like naked.

"Good night, Stiles" David said, and Stiles face was red when he closed the door in his face.

Stiles needs to get laid, and quickly, before he jumps one of his incredibly handsome friends...

* * *

Stiles was pretty sure he aced his Chemistry exam, and David seemed pretty secure in his Spanish exam. The next day, Stiles had his English exam, and David did his Economics, which he also seemed okay with, and then Stiles handed in his research report, and walked out to find a panicked werewolf waiting for him.

"You have to help me redo the test" David demanded, having just completed his Chemistry, and Stiles just waited for him to calm down before directing him to a chair.

"David, I'm sure you did fine. We've been going over this for the past few days, your going to do fine" Stiles said soothingly, and David groaned despairingly.

"I'm sure I failed it" He sulked, and Stiles set his hands on the wolf's shoulders.

"You did fine, now come on. We're gonna focus on your Biology test next" Stiles announced, and David let Stiles lead him towards his car, having collected James along the way.

They were in the middle of studying when suddenly James looked up as if he had an idea, and Stiles immediately leaned away.

"The three of us should have a threesome" James decided, and both Stiles and David choked on their own tongues.

"What?!" they demanded at the same time, and James laughed.

"Well, me and David both want to fuck you, and it'll probably causes tension when you finally choose, so we should do it together the first time. But only the first time, because I don't share" James declared, and too Stiles horror, David seemed to consider it.

"What makes you think I'll be having sex with either of you?" Stiles demanded, and they both levelled him with flat looks, and Stiles went red in embarrassment.

"We should have a threesome. It'd be hot, and it would mean we both got to be with you first..." James said, and Stiles couldn't meet either of their eyes as he returned to his studying. Both werewolves seemed to take this as a no, and deflated, but respected his decision and returned to studying as well.

When Stiles was opening the door for him, he knew he had to make a decision. He was going to have to get over Derek eventually, and he trusted David and James with this more than anyone else, and it would make choosing between them less stressful.

"I'll think about it" Stiles finally declared and realization flared in their eyes as Stiles closed the door in their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's

* * *

Derek had never had much luck with love. His first love had died in his arms, his second had burned his family alive. There were three cheaters, another hunter and a stalker mixed between leaving Beacon Hills and Laura dying, and Derek had never seen any of them coming.

Stiles hadn't been like Paige, he wasn't soft or gentle, but he wasn't like Kate, he wasn't wild or savage. Nor, was he mysterious, like Rachel had been, he laid everything bare, even his vulnerabilities, and he wasn't arrogant, like Tanner, Derek was pretty sure he had no idea how gorgeous he really was. He wasn't shy, like Owen, he was loud and unforgivingly himself, and he wasn't temperamental like Tracy, he only ever got mad at the expense of others, and he was the farthest thing from judgmental, like Isabella, Scott had even told Derek of the time Stiles had kicked Jackson's dad for being homophobic to Danny. Stiles didn't pander to anyones whims, if he liked you, he would keep you grounded, not cater to your every whim, like Janice had...

He was so different, but love had never worked out well for Derek, and when he found out Scott was working with Gerard, he assumed he had done it again, he had fallen for the wrong person, and they had betrayed him...

But Stiles hadn't betrayed him, and this time it was Derek who had hurt someone. He had taken the love Stiles had given to him, and he had crushed it in his hands... And it started right after what happened in the Camaro... Stiles had smelt so good, like strawberries and oranges, salt water and lighting, lavender and vanilla... Derek knew he should have resisted, waited another year for Stiles to be of age, but he hadn't. And he had no excuse.

Stiles had looked at his with those whiskey colored eyes, those plump pink lips parted temptingly, pale skin practically glowing under the vet lights, those stupid moles disappearing under his clothes, and he smelt... He was aroused, but it was more than arousal, that he could have dealt with, but it was the trust, love, and affection that was his undoing. Stiles had looked amazing, but it was his scent that always did him in, and Derek was beyond pressing him against any hard surface, just to get a whiff of their combined scents...

"Derek" Stiles had moaned, his hands grasping Derek's arms as he trailed kisses down his neck, licking, sucking and biting until Stiles was covered with the marks. Derek must have found a sensitive spot because Stiles moaned extra loud and ran harsh scratches down Derek's back. They healed instantly, but Derek struggled to keep his wolf contained, reminding himself harshly, that if he bit Stiles while shifted, he would Turn Stiles, and that's not what he wanted.

They had sex, and while Stiles wasn't particularly experienced, he more than made up for it in enthusiasm and spirit. Derek had had some wild and passionate sex, but this passion didn't just come from physical desire, but emotional desire as well. Derek knew Stiles wanted him, wanted him mind, body and soul, and God, did Derek _want_ Stiles the same way. He wanted to be with Stiles, but when he laid Stiles tired body in his childhood bed, reality came crashing back.

Derek was six years older than Stiles, and while that wouldn't matter in a few years, it mattered now. It mattered to Derek... They couldn't be together publically, and Derek _would not_ hide Stiles as if he were a dirty secret. Besides, Stiles best friend was a werewolf, eventually, Scott would notice that they were having sex.

So Derek decided to take a few days to think things over, and Stiles gave him that time. Maybe things would have gone smoother, Derek would have told Stiles he loved him too, but he wouldn't hide their relationship, and they wouldn't be together until Stiles was legal, but then Derek messed up.

Derek didn't trust Stiles, and it honestly had nothing to do with Stiles, and more to do with Derek's horrible dating history. He had found out about Scott, and was so scared and angry, he had assumed he had been wrong again, that he had fallen for someone who wasn't what he'd thought. And for the first time since the fire, Derek had something to lose, he had a Pack. A Pack that he hadn't been treating right, he wasn't acting like an Alpha, he was acting like a dictator, and that had to change.

Derek left Stiles house, ignoring every part of himself that told him to go back, apologize and make love to Stiles like he deserved, and he called his betas. The three teenagers showed up less than ten minutes later, looking worried, and Derek, for the first time, pulled the three of them into a hug.

"Derek? What's going on?" Erica asked worriedly, and Derek was horrified to find he had tears in his eyes.

"I've been a terrible Alpha. I've brought all three of you into this world, and given you the wrong impression of what it means to be a Pack. The only excuse I can give you is that I never expected to be an Alpha, it was always supposed to be Laura... And it all changes tonight" Derek promised, and the three of them gave him looks of such vulnerability that Derek nearly broke down into sobs.

"What do you mean? You've been doing a good job, you kept us contained on the full moon, and you saved all three of us" Isaac said, and Derek ran a hand through his curly hair.

"An Alpha is supposed to be strong, command respect, and take care of its Pack, and I've tried to do that... And somewhat succeeded, I think," all three teenagers snorted, but let him continue "But an Alpha is also supposed to be someone you can trust, someone comforting, reassuring and affectionate, and I have failed horribly at this" Derek said, and the three of them looked at him with wide eyes.

"Being a Pack... Its like being a family, isn't it? And your supposed to be the dad, strong and reliable... You are all that stuff, Derek, your just damaged, but if you let us... We can help you heal" Erica said firmly, meeting his eyes, and Derek pulled her into a warm hug, the others pressing against our sides.

"Have you... Been around Stiles?" Isaac mumbled, and the three of them pulled back to give him knowing looks, and Derek struggle not to blush.

"Yes. Scott and him are working with Gerard" Derek said shortly, moving to pull back, but his betas held on tight.

"You love him" Erica said knowingly, and Derek sighed tiredly.

"Lets just say I have a long history of bad relationships... And... If we're going to be a real Pack, its time you know the truth about the fire that killed my family" Derek said softly, and they tilted their heads, looking confused.

"What does that have to do with... Relationships..." Derek watched the realization hit them, and forced himself not to look away, but was unprepared when Erica and Isaac started to cry.

"Hey, I'm sorry" Derek panicked, rubbing Isaac's back while Boyd comforted Erica, and Isaac just clung to Derek's chest.

"Kate... She had to have been in her thirties, and you were sixteen... You cannot blame yourself for this, anymore than I can for running out and letting the Kanima kill my dad" Isaac demanded, and Derek winced, leaning his face into Isaac's hair.

"That is not at all the same-" Derek argued, but fell quiet when his betas glared him down.

"It was not your fault, Derek" they all said, and something warm bloomed in his chest, and Derek wanted to tell them how much he loved them, but knew they weren't ready for that, and instead pulled them into another hug.

* * *

Stiles left... Derek had never thought it would hurt so much to be on the other side of the blade...

"Derek? Are you okay?" Erica whispered, the stillness in the Sheriff's office was stifling, and Derek realized he had stopped breathing, and his heartbeat was getting faster and faster.

"This is bullshit" The Sheriff practically snarled, glaring at Melissa's cell phone as if it had stolen Stiles, but it was very clear that Stiles had left because he wanted to... And the chances that it had nothing to do with Derek were less than nothing.

"John-" Melissa reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but he knocked her hand away roughly.

"No. I don't care if I have to drag him back here, but I'm going to find my son, and when I do, he's never going anywhere without five deputies" The Sheriff said angrily, and Derek could smell the hurt and guilt cloying around him as well.

"What if he's right? What if bringing him back here only hurts him in the end?" Scott asked, looking as if someone had destroyed his reason for living. And in a way, they had, Derek realized, Stiles was more than just Scott's friend, they were brothers. The fact that Scott hadn't seen Stiles was struggling... That had to be tearing the beta apart.

"I will decide what's best for my son! I'm his father, dammit! Where does he think he's going to go?! Live on the streets?! Everyone he's ever known lives in this town, my family is limited to my elderly father, and he's never even talked to his mothers side! He's got no money..." the Sheriff suddenly trailed off, a look of horror in his eyes, and everyone looked up.

"What is it? What money could he have access to?" Melissa asked, and the Sheriff dialled a number with fumbling fingers.

"This is John Stilinski, I need to know the state of my wife's Claudia's life insurance claims. My son isn't supposed to be able to touch them until he's eighteen" John said, his other hand gripping the desk, and his fingers only grew whiter the more the other person on the line talked.

Apparently Stiles had switched all the money over to a different bank, a nationwide one, so they had no idea which branch he had chosen. He wouldn't be able to touch the money for a year, not until he was eighteen, but he had other funds switched over to the same branch.

"Thank you" John said shortly, hanging up, and they all fell silent, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

"Sheriff, we finished tracing the call. He's at Sacramento International Airport" A deputy said, and no one moved for a minute. Stiles had to already be gone, and Sacramento was a three hour drive away...

"I can ask some of my families allies to look out for him, but Stiles is smart, he's not going to get caught" Derek said, and John rubbed his face tiredly.

"Okay" John whispered, looking as if all the life had been drained from him, and he might be in the verge of tears.

"Everyone out" Melissa demanded, and Derek lead his betas from the room. Scott seemed to gravitate towards Derek without even realizing it, and Derek knew now that Stiles was gone, it would only be a matter of time before Scott went feral or joined Derek's Pack. And Derek wasn't quite sure if he wanted Scott in his Pack... If Scott hadn't been working with Gerard, Derek wouldn't have hurt Stiles.

But that wasn't quite right, Derek knew, in the end, he was always going to hurt Stiles...

* * *

When Derek had asked Isaac to talk to Jackson, Derek had never imagined what it would cost him, or what he would gain...

Isaac and Jackson were taken by the Alpha Pack, Scott had developed Pack bonds with Isaac, Derek had seen Stiles, and then... He'd talked to him... He sounded healthy, and wherever he was, he was happy.

And then there was Cora not being dead, a cousin he'd never known existed, and Laura was possibly suffocating in her coffin, and Derek had no idea how to tackle all three problems at once.

"Scott, we'll find Malia and bring her to your moms, then head to the bank to save Isaac, Jackson and Cora. Boyd, Erica, I want you to dig up Laura's grave, see if Stiles really did resurrect her. When your done, come back here with Laura, or meet us at the bank if she isn't..." Derek trailed off, and his betas gave him warm looks, and nodded their agreement. The two of them went to change, and he and Scott head into the forest, tracking Malia by the scent of panic and magic around her.

Looking at Malia for the first time, she looked like a Hale. She was dirty and naked, but underneath it, was the same tanned skin, high cheekbones, and strong jawline. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown than Derek's, and her eyes were more hazel than green, but she smelt like family, she smelt like Pack.

"Malia, my name is Derek Hale. Everything is going to be okay" Derek smiled gently, and when he looked into Malia's eyes, he knew that, cousin or not, Pack or not, he would do anything to protect this girl. The same way he would do anything to protect Cora, and his betas.

Which was why he growled lowly at Scott when he starred at Malia for a bit too long, and Scott quickly looked away, his face red, and his heart pounding in his chest.

"Lets get her to Melissa's, and go get our Pack back" Derek said, meeting Scott's eyes challengingly, and Scott seemed to struggle internally with something, before finally sighing, and tilting his head to the side, bearing his neck to Derek, and Derek leaned forewords, and sank his fans into Scott's shoulder, and Scott seemed to relax, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, as the Pack bond settled between them.

"Lets go get our Pack" Scott agreed, offering Derek a small apologetic smile, and Derek nodded at him, and they lead Malia to Derek's car.

"Did... You know what, I'm not even going to ask" Scott looked horrified as he starred at the backseat of Derek's car, and Derek struggled not to smile in amusement.

You really cant hide anything from werewolves...

* * *

Seeing Cora for the first time in six years felt like a gaping wound beginning to heal, he would never forgive himself for his parents, Thea and Philip, or his Aunt Phoebe and cousins Laurel and Ivy, but getting Cora back... That was something Derek couldn't put into words.

"Can you hear anyone?" Scott whispered, and Derek tilted his eyes, and gave into his wolf. He hadn't done the full shift since the fire, sometimes it felt like his wolf was becoming more and more distant from him, like it blamed him for the loss of his Pack, but Derek couldn't fight these Alpha's without giving into his wolf. Reaching out for his wolf, and feeling that connection after so long... It felt like coming home, and he knew that he would have to start teaching his betas the full shift after all of this, and maybe even Cora, if no one had ever taught her. Which was unlikely, seeing as the full shift was mostly a Hale trait, and most Alpha's couldn't manage the full shift, let alone teach their beta's, but all his Beta's had been turned by a Hale...

Shifting again felt like cutting open every emotional scar he had received since killing Paige, and letting the hurt, anger, and betrayal bleed out, tearing down all the progress he had made at recovering, but at the same time, it felt like draining an infected cut, you never knew how painful it was, until it was gone.

Derek stripped down to his boxers, ignoring Scott's exclamations, and then he let go, he let his consciousness bleed into his wolf, and felt the shift take hold. The shift happened fairly quickly, there was an itching under his skin as the hair grew, and he could hear the snapping of bones, but before he knew it, he was standing on four paws, his dark fur ruffled in the wind, and his red eyes glowing. All of his senses were heightened in this form, he was stronger, faster, and more agile, his bite would last even longer than it normally would.

"That is so cool" Scott whispered, and Derek gave him a wolfy grin, and nodded his head towards the bank, and Scott opened the door, pushing it open, and then fell behind Derek stalked inside the room, letting out a low and threatening howl, the sound shaking the foundations of the bank.

"Derek! Deucalion and Kali are gone, but the twins and Ennis are here!" Isaac yelled, and Derek howled when he heard his betas pained yelp, and Derek and Scott ran into the room, Scott immediately heading for the others, while Derek pounced on Ennis, ripping a vicious chunk out of the alpha's thigh. The twins lunged for him, but Derek dance out of the way, and swiped a paw across their stomach, very nearly disemboweling them. Derek rolled out of the way of Ennis's counter attack, and growled threatening at the two powerful Alpha's who Derek had injured, completely unharmed.

"Come on, your in no shape to fight. Derek has this" Scott urged, and Jackson, the least injured, carried a limp Isaac, while Scott helped Cora out of the room.

Ennis growled, and moved to lunge at Scott, but Derek placed himself in the way, and sank fangs into the Alpha's bicep and used his momentum to throw the man across the room, where he slammed into the wall with a sickening thud. In his moment of distraction, the twins managed to slash him across the back, but Derek kicked the Alpha in the balls, so he didn't mind so much. When the alpha went down, Derek moved forewords, and sank his fangs into the Alpha's neck, and, to his surprise, instead of killing the Alpha, Derek felt a pack bond settle between them. The Alpha could have rejected the bond, but given the choice of death and mercy, the twins didn't resist, and with a shudder, they surrendered their Alpha status. The alpha's form shuddered as the conjoined duo were forced apart, eyes flashing from red to blue, and Derek leapt over them when Ennis lunged at the twins, and ripped the Alpha's jugular out with a shower of blood.

"Well, this isn't how I thought things would go" one of the twins, the one who smelt like cherries and lemon, told his twin, the one who smelt like pineapple and lemon, and Derek rolled his shoulders as he shifted back, completely naked, with blood coating most of his body, and growled when the beta who smelt like cherries checked him out.

"Sorry, I am still a teenager. Anyway, you couldn't be any worse than Deucalion, and its better than death" the cherry smelling twin apologized, and the pineapple smelling twin did not look happy, but he wouldn't try to attack Derek, not after seeing what he'd done to Ennis and them at full power.

"I'm not so sure" the pineapple twin smelled distrustful, and a little afraid. Derek got the feeling that they were good kids, they had just been dealt a shitty deck in life.

"I will give you one chance, because apparently my wolf likes you, despite kidnapping my Beta's, but if you betray me, well... The Hale Pack were not always as peaceful as my mother had been" Derek said, and the twins exchanged a series of looks, which the cherry smelling twin won, because they both tilted their heads in submission.

With that dealt with, Derek shifted back again, and lead the twins outside towards his car, where Jackson stood protectively in front of Isaac and Cora, his eyes glowing blue, and the twins flashed blue eyes back at him.

"We should go before Deucalion gets back" Cherry said, looking at Jackson awkwardly, and Derek exhaled sharply in exasperation as he nudged past Jackson to nose worriedly at Isaac, who was still unconscious, but Derek could hear his heartbeat, which was still strong, if a little irregular.

"He's fine" a female voice said softly, and Derek looked up to see a beautiful brunette girl, who should be seventeen, and Derek pounced on her, much to her surprise, and disgust when she pulled a bloody hand back from his fur, but Derek didn't let that stop him from scent marking her.

"What? No hug for me?" a hauntingly familiar voice asked, and then suddenly Derek was being drenched in water, and Derek growled, and pulled back, shaking his fur out irritably, and looked up to see Laura laughing at him.

Derek shifted back, and Laura threw a part of jeans at his head, looking fondly at him, which Derek pulled on hastily, then pulled his alive big sister into a tight hug, swinging her around in a circle, and she laughed at him.

"Hey, little brother" Laura smiled, and Derek pulled back to look at her face in amazement.

"Your... Your alive" Derek choked out, and she smiled softly at him, gently cupping his cheeks, and pressing a soft kiss to his nose, and for the first time since they were kids, Derek didn't growl at her, instead he leant in burying his face in her hair, and breathing in mouthfuls of her scent.

"And your the Alpha" Laura said, pulled back slightly to flash yellow eyes at him, and Derek flashed red eyes back at him, suddenly feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry, I know this was supposed to be you, you'd been training for this your whole life" Derek said apologetically, and Laura smiled at him.

"And you've been doing better than I ever did. Look at you, after only a few months you've got a strong pack, who you would do anything for, and your emissary is insanely powerful" Laura said gently, and Derek winced, his heart sinking in his chest.

"Stiles... He isn't my emissary" Derek said, thinking back to those few minutes of talking to the boy again, memorizing how he had sounded. He'd sounded broken, but healing, and Derek knew that he had to give Stiles whatever time he needed, and if things were meant to be, Stiles would come back when he was ready... And they would go from there...

"He is, even if he doesn't know it. He pledged himself to you, he will never submit to another Alpha, he'll never join another pack, and he'll never love anyone like he loves you" Laura said, looking at him knowingly, and Derek felt his eyes flush in embarrassment and shame.

"You, uh, you seen that?" Derek sputtered, and Laura laughed, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Part of it, I left you to it after you got to the fun bits" Laura teased, and Derek shoved her off in embarrassment, and Laura laughed in amusement.

"God, Laura, I don't know why I wanted you back" Derek groaned, and heard his own heart skip a beat, but ignored Laura's smug look as he turned back to his Pack, who were looking at him warmly.

God, Derek's pack was expanding, he was going to need to get a new place, it was time to rebuild the Pack House, and give his beta's the life they deserved. He just... wished Stiles could be apart of that life...


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's.

* * *

Jackson never would have admitted it out loud to anyone, but he had been jealous of Stiles.

In the beginning, it wasn't so bad, sure, they weren't best friends, but Jackson had Danny, and Stiles had Scott, so neither of them minded. They could get along, but Jackson was jealous, and Stiles was stubborn, so asking them to play nice for long periods of time was unreasonable.

The issues between them didn't start until they were a bit older. They had both fallen for Lydia Martin, a beautiful and intelligent girl in their year, and, well, like he said, Jackson doesn't share well. Things had gotten pretty bad between them, but a year later, when Jackson found out he was adopted, things got even worse.

It wasn't fair. Jackson might be rich, but Stiles was adored by his parents, even if he was a hyperactive spaz, and he was almost as smart as Lydia. In Jackson's mind, Stiles already had a better family, he didn't deserve Lydia, too. The next year, they couldn't be within thirty feet of each other without going off the rails. It would only be later that Jackson would learn that Stiles' mom had been getting sicker and sicker, and by the end of the year, she would be gone. Jackson felt bad, but he didn't leave Stiles alone, and year after year, Jackson never realized what an asshole he had become.

Not until his greed had literally transformed him into a giant mind controlled lizard hybrid, and he'd killed a handful of people along the way.

And especially not until Stiles had left, and Jackson was left starring at the fragmented Pack he had sort of fallen into.

He hadn't even been planning on staying, he'd already broken up with Lydia, he'd been talking to his parents about school in England. But then he opened the door, and for some reason, he didn't close the door in Isaac's face. Despite being a cold hearted former giant mind controlled lizard hybrid, Jackson found Isaac's wounded puppy dog eyes were surprisingly effective. Especially because Jackson knew what he'd been through, had even tried to get his dad to press charges, but without any evidence, Jackson was ordered to stay away from the curly haired boy.

"Your not going to change my mind," Jackson declared stubbornly, "This town is a mess, its no surprise Stilinksi left, he almost died every time he turned around" Jackson said bitterly, and Isaac didn't say anything, just following Jackson back into his bedroom.

"Okay, so Beacon Hills sucks, I'm not denying that, but... Maybe Stiles leaving was for the better. Something he'd said to Derek before he left changed him, he's been acting like a real Alpha. If you stay, maybe you could see what it truly means to be Pack" Isaac said, and Jackson snorted dubiously.

"Really?," he asked the blonde dryly, "this is the same man who bit four teenagers expecting them to do what he wanted" Jackson declared, and Isaac's lips twitched in amusement, even as his eyes turned down in disappointment.

"I know I cant change your mind, that Lydia probably cant even change your mind, but you should think about it. Being Pack isn't just about strength in numbers, its about family" Isaac said, getting up to leave.

Jackson smelt them only seconds before they appeared, and the only thing his warning abled him to do was pull Isaac back, rolling the two of them across the floor as a woman appeared where Isaac had been, fangs bared, with the grossest pedicure Jackson had ever seen, and a pair of blazing red eyes.

"Howl for Derek" Jackson told Isaac, but before Isaac could, the giant Alpha had reached forwards, moving so fast Jackson could hardly believe it. Jackson pushed Isaac out of the way, instinctively moving to protect the wolf. Jackson yelped as the woman wrapped a hand around his throat, and with a gentle shove, she had thrown him across the room to bounce across his bed and to the floor.

"Nighty night, gorgeous" the giant smirked, and then everything went dark.

When Jackson woke up, he was laying on a concrete floor, his head felt fuzzy and confused, but he knew he had already healed from the head wound. Isaac and a brunette girl were slouched against the wall, awake, but extremely unhappy.

"Good morning" a blind man, probably in his forties, walked into the room full of confidence, and Jackson decided attacking this one would be ill advised. He was not as fragile as he looked, an actual wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Not particularly. Why are we here?" Jackson asked, and the man looked right at him, leading Jackson to believe he wasn't truly blind.

"I am Deucalion, you've met the twins, and Kali. You are all leverage, and your going to remain here until I get what I want from Derek Hale" Deucalion smiled pleasantly, and Isaac snorted.

"I get why I'm here, but Jackson? He's not Pack, and I've never seen this girl in my life" Isaac declared, and Deucalion didn't seem perturbed, instead he only looked amused.

"Two of his betas is already a good bargaining chip, but a sister? Well, who do you think he will choose?" Deucalion asked Isaac, and Isaac's head swiveled to take in the mystery girls dark hair, tanned skin, and high cheekbones. And the scowl, which was mostly being aimed at Deucalion.

Derek's sister... But she's too young to be Laura Hale, the only other survivor of the fire... So it would have to be either Cora or Thea, one of the twins who had been killed in the fire with Derek's brother, parents, grandparents, aunt, and two cousins... Wow... When he thinks about it like that, Derek lost almost everyone, and then his uncle killed his sister...

"Cora Hale, at your service" the way she smiled at the Alpha made all the hair stand up on his arms, but Deucalion seemed unaffected.

Deucalion left, taking one of the twins with him, and leaving the other and Kali with them. After about an hour, Cora suddenly sat up, looking at something in front of her, but Jackson couldn't see or smell anything wrong. Jackson looked over at her, and shifted uncomfortably, drawing the twins attention as Jackson arched his back, his shoulders stiff, and the alpha starred at him.

Someone didn't play ball for the opposite team, Jackson thought, smelling attraction wafting off the young Alpha. Jackson noticed the guys blue eyes softened slightly, sympathy and guilt flashing in those baby blues. He didn't move for a minute, and Jackson continued fidgeting, but then he moved forwards, grabbing Jackson by the arm, and shoving him firmly against the wall, their bodies pressed together and eyes flashed blood red, a growl rumbling between them. For some reason, Jackson didn't feel threatened, it almost felt like the Alpha was playing, running a gentle hand up the length of his hip. Jackson gasped slightly in surprise when he saw lines of black creeping up his arm, and Jackson's discomfort eased away.

The alpha growled once more, and then he was retreating, fangs flashing, and Kali laughed mockingly.

"You always liked the pretty ones, Ethan, but this one is a little beyond your charms. Unless you take him unwillingly" Kali leered at him, and Ethan ran a possessive finger down his cheek and neck, leaving a line of tingling skin in its wake. Jackson clenched his teeth tightly, and had to resist the urge to either punch him in his stupidly pretty face, or press impossibly closer to the Alpha's scent.

"I like knowing my partners are enjoying themselves, plus, the prettiest ones are feisty" Ethan leered at him, but Jackson could see his eyes were soft, and Jackson couldn't help it. He inhaled, and was assaulted by cherries and lemon, with maybe a hint of caramel, with something sharp, like pepper, intertwined in it. Not exactly what occurred to him when he thought Alpha.

But it made him blush slightly when he smelt the amount of attraction in the air between them, and not just coming from Ethan.

"Ennis will be here in fifteen minutes with Aidan, try not to traumatize them" Kali cackled as she left the room, and as soon as she was gone, Ethan stepped back, giving Jackson some more space.

Why? Jackson thought at him, and received a guilty grin in return, before the Alpha turned away, and Jackson slowly eased himself down beside Isaac, who looked disgusted at him.

"Really? Our jailor? I thought you had good taste, but you dump Lydia, and want to jump our captor" Isaac grumbled, and Jackson's cheeks flushed, and he avoided Isaac's eyes.

"Still want me in your Pack?" Jackson asked curtly, and Isaac met his eyes, honesty shining in their depths.

"Yes" Isaac said simply, and Jackson inhaled sharply, but didn't say anything as the three of them fell into silence.

It only took another two hours before a howl shattered the tension between everyone, and something within Jackson untensed, and Jackson was immediately on his feet, catching Isaac as he was knocked down.

When the giant black wolf entered the room, Jackson's heart was conflicted as he seen Derek come to their rescue, tearing through Ennis and the twins, but at the same time, something inside him whined when Ethan was hurt. Nevertheless, he grabbed Isaac, and carried the wolf out of the bank.

The four of them hurried towards Derek's car, and Jackson remained at Isaac's back, his eyes burning blue, and Scott did the same thing with Cora. When Derek returned with the twins in tow, and Jackson couldn't take his eyes off of Ethan.

"What do we do about Deucalion and Kali?" Jackson asked, not relaxing, and Ethan made a small aborted motion with his hands, and his twin suddenly looked extremely annoyed.

"Don't tell me you pledged us to a new alpha because you want to get laid" Aidan growled, and Ethan's face burned, and he shot an annoyed glare at his brother.

"He smells different... Better" Ethan admitted, Derek currently absorbed in embracing his sisters. Not only was Cora alive, but apparently Stiles had resurrected Laura from the dead.

"He smells like salt water and pepper to me" Aidan shrugged, looking at Jackson in curiosity, and Ethan looked at Jackson closely.

"Yeah, but there's an undertone of something sweet and rich, like cherry and caramel" Ethan admitted, and Aidan leant in, inhaling Jackson's scent, causing Jackson to jump back, but Aidan only raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Nothing" Aidan declared, and Derek wandered over, his face flushed with happiness.

"Its called Accenting, and it explains why my wolf wouldn't want to kill you. He could smell that your scent was combined with Jackson's, and wouldn't want to kill your mate" Derek explained, and Jackson's heart stuttered. He'd only half listened to Derek's brief overview of being a werewolf, but mates had been apart of that explanation.

"A trio? That's rare, especially if I haven't met our third" Ethan mused, and Jackson's face burned as he avoided the former alpha's eyes.

"I, uh, I think I know... Someone. Someone who smells like caramel" Jackson admitted, and Scott's jaw dropped in shock.

"Wait, what? You and Danny? And one of the alphas?" Scott blinked in confusion, and Ethan smiled at him, his eyelashes cast low, and his tongue swiping over his bottom lip.

"Ew" everyone around them suddenly walked away, and Jackson's face burned again, and he opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly Lydia was driving up beside them, looking anxious and worried as she looked at him.

"Are you okay? Allison told me you were missing" Lydia strode forwards, and despite his attraction to the wolf behind him, Lydia still made his heart beat slightly faster. Even if they didn't work out romantically, Jackson had loved her for years, and probably always would.

"Yeah, Lydia, I'm okay" Jackson said, and she looked like she might step forwards to hug him, but thought better of it.

"Okay. Well, you should get home, school and all" Lydia took a hesitant step back, and Jackson cleared his throat.

"I'm staying" Jackson declared, and she gave him a searching look, and he looked over at Derek and the other betas swarming Cora and Laura.

"Good" Lydia smiled widely, and Jackson sneaked a look between a deeply upset Ethan, and then at a hopeful Lydia. Goddammit, why cant Lydia smell like caramel instead of vanilla?

"Um, maybe we'll get coffee, you know, as friends" Jackson said apologetically, and Lydia's eyes darted to the scowling werewolf behind him, and understanding passed over her face.

"Oh, you... Moved on quick" She looked a little bitter, but she offered a polite smile to Ethan, and he gave her a grimace, but shook her offered hand.

"Its actually pretty complicated," Jackson scratched behind his head, and she raised a questioning eyebrow at him, "Its a wolf thing, apparently soulmates are a thing" Jackson said, and the bitterness faded from her eyes.

"Soulmates… You know what? We'll talk about it at lunch, Maggie's at noon?" Lydia asked, but Jackson knew very well that this was no question, and resisting would be unwise.

"Sounds good" Jackson smiled ruefully, and she gave him a warm smile, and Ethan a polite nod, before returning to her car.

"I don't like her" Ethan growled behind her, and Jackson turned around, levelling him with a unimpressed look.

"Tough. Ex girlfriend or not, Lydia is important to me, and I'm not going to stop talking to her because some guy who says he's my mate is insecure " Jackson said bluntly, and Ethan looked extremely unhappy, but he surrendered to Jackson's sharp glare.

"Fine. I'll keep it to myself" Ethan's lips pressed together, and Jackson's wolf wilted in guilt, but Jackson stood his ground stubbornly.

This whole mate thing was going to give him a headache.

* * *

Jackson met Lydia at Maggie's Diner a little after noon. The red head was waiting at their usual table, and looked severely annoyed when Jackson practically stumbled through the door and over to the table. After the night he'd just had, he didn't think he deserved her anger, and by the away her glare softened when she seen his haggard appearance, she must have agreed.

After spending nearly two hours arguing with Ethan, who wanted to go with Jackson when he talked to Danny, and then several more hours actually talking to Danny, he was exhausted. He'd had to explain to Danny that the supernatural was real, tell him what Jackson had done, some general information about Pack hierarchy, being kidnapped with Isaac and Cora, and then them being mates with Ethan. Oh, and Jackson is bisexual, he hadn't told his gay best friend, and no, he wasn't ashamed. Oh, and he had kind of been crushing on his best friend since kindergarten. You know, all the easy conversations one wants to have with their closest friend.

"So... Mates?" Lydia asked, sipping her coffee gracefully, and Jackson ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Yeah, apparently werewolves can smell traces of a persons mate in someone's scent. Its mostly only obvious with trio's, which is why a lot of people don't find their mates, because apparently having two mates is really rare. For once, I wouldn't care if I was ordinary" Jackson said curtly, and Lydia studied him severely for a few minutes as the waitress dropped off Jackson's usual coffee, but quickly left when she seen Lydia's expression.

"So... Danny?" She asked, and Jackson winced, his cheeks flushing, and he couldn't force himself to look Lydia in the eyes, even when she gently intertwined their fingers together.

"Nothing ever happened between me and Danny," Jackson promised, meeting her eyes for a second, and she gave him a small smile "And... I'm sorry... Everything I put you through, and all the things I said, I didn't mean any of that. I love you, Lydia" Jackson said, squeezing her fingers gently, and Lydia blinked several times to keep from crying.

"But you don't love me... Like that. Not anymore" Lydia stated, her eyes sad, and Jackson looked her in the eyes.

"This mate thing doesn't erase what I feel for you, Lydia, I could ignore my attraction for them, and we could pick up where we left off. But that wouldn't be fair to you, Lydia, because a part of me will always love them too" Jackson said, guilt stirring his stomach, and Lydia opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"I've known for years that you loved Danny, and I've never understood why you never did anything about it. But... You already love Ethan? Being a werewolf, it just created these feelings for you?" She asked, hurt shining in her eyes, and Jackson felt his face burn, and he couldn't meet her eyes again.

"I don't think its love. You know that wildlife documentary you made me watch with you when you were sick? It talked about animals being attracted to a mate with particular characteristics, strength, or fertility, or beauty, but not love. I think my animal side is just directing me towards a mate that fits these characteristics, and my human side will decide if I love him. So... No. I don't love him, but I think I could" Jackson decided, and Lydia actually had to wipe a tear off her cheek.

"You still love me, but your also in love with Danny, and you think you could fall in love with Ethan" Lydia declared, and Jackson couldn't look away from their joined hands, his heart thudding against his ribs, and he knew he was probably pale as death.

"So... whole wheat pancakes with strawberries, and the meatetarian omelet, with a side of bacon, and orange juice, hold the pulp?" The waitress interrupted their silence, and they both managed to nod in agreement before falling back into silence.

"I won't pretend seeing you with other people won't hurt, because it will, but I would rather we be friends than tense acquaintances. I think a part of me will always love you, Jackson, and I hope you'll feel the same" Lydia smiled, her shoulders tense, and Jackson rubbed soothing circles into her wrist with his thumb.

"I want us to be friends, Lydia, but I've already hurt you a lot these past few months" Jackson said, and Lydia sighed heavily, rubbing her temples, and looking at him with determination.

"We have to try" Lydia declared, and the tension between them eased a bit as they started talking about simpler topics. Scott and Allison's permanent split, the Pack, including the three new Hale's Jackson had met, and school. They talked music, movies and celebrity gossip, mostly Lydia talking about that last one, and eventually they had both relaxed as they had finished their breakfast, and Jackson was walking her towards her car.

Suddenly, all the tension between them returned as neither knew what to do next. Normally, Jackson would kiss her, and she would promise to swing by his house later that night, but now... Jackson leaned in, and pressed a kiss against her cheek, her hair smelling like flowers as it tickled his nose, and Lydia wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a loose hug.

"Goodbye, Jackson" Lydia whispered, and then she was gone, and Jackson was starring at where she had been for several minutes. Eventually, he managed to snap out of his daze long enough to realize it was almost two, and he was supposed to be meeting Ethan at his house in thirty minutes, and he still had to shower.

* * *

Laura was nineteen, only three years older than Derek, when most her family were killed in the fire. About a year and half into a four year political science major at Columbia University in New York, she hadn't been ready to become an Alpha, and she certainly hadn't been ready to become the guardian of her traumatized little brother.

Derek didn't think she knew about Kate, but Laura had known since before the fire that he had been seeing someone. It was extremely hard to hide something like that from werewolves, especially nosy big sisters who were visiting for Christmas. Laura hadn't wanted to ruin the progress Derek had made since what happened with Paige, which was why she'd given Derek some space. It wasn't until her family was burning to death that she recognized Kate's scent among the ashes.

She had wanted to hunt the bitch down, and if it was just her on the line, she never would have hesitated... But Laura knew Derek was extremely fragile at that moment, and if she told Derek that she knew, he might crumble beneath his guilt, and he would never recover.

Laura wasn't ready to be an Alpha, but she had been a big sister most her life.

She took Derek to New York, leaving Peter behind, and it wasn't until that moment that she understood the weight of being Alpha that her mother had carried. When it was Laura's turn to make the hard decisions, she wished she could say she was a natural, but that was a bold faced lie. Maybe she should have prioritized the Hale legacy, she should have tried to salvage the Argent treaty, and get some justice for what Kate had done to her family. The Hunter's Council never would have tolerated a werewolf uprising, and that's exactly what would have happened if Laura had reached out to her mothers contacts.

Instead, Laura ran away.

She's sure generations of Hale's were rolling in their graves when Laura left Beacon Hills, which had been Hale Territory for centuries, virtually defenseless.

The Hale's had been a werewolf family ever since Harold Hale was turned by a rouge alpha in 1352 in France. Harold could have killed himself, or surrendered himself to the church, who would have killed him, but instead he fled west to Britain. The Hale's would grow into their heritage, becoming wealthy businessmen and respected warriors, who would serve under the crown. However, they had no true territory of their own, and with hunters closing in on their location, the Hale's made the tactical decision to move to America.

They settled in Virginia for years, but it wasn't until the gold rush in the 1800's that they settled somewhere permanently. The gold rush had attracted them to California, but finding the nemeton was better than any gold they would find. They bought over a thousand acres of land in Southern California, naming their new territory Beacon Hills. Within years, there was a small town prospering on the land, and the Hale family were raking in the dough. Or the gold, to be more exact.

The land was rich with gold, and werewolves had a talent for mining unlike any other. The Hale's created a series of underground tunnels, and an assortment of secret vaults, all across their land. Of course, nothing could last forever, and the gold dried up, and people settled in Beacon Hills permanently. They got married, had children, created jobs, and schools and hospitals. The Hale's owned everything, occasionally selling parts of their land, but the Hale's were easily the wealthiest people around.

After the American Revolution, they agreed to sell the government funded buildings back to the country, but they still owned over 80% of Beacon Hills. That would decrease over time, as people wanted to own the land they were living on, and the Hale's would rather that they stay in Beacon Hills, providing jobs and income for the family.

Of course, the Hale's hadn't sold all of the gold they had mined, their family was extremely paranoid. They created a vault deep in the preserve, where they kept millions of dollars worth of gold, and year after year, more Hale's would add to the fortune. Laura had seen the treasury only once, on her eighteenth birthday, when her mom had let her in on a few of the family secrets.

Still, despite knowing how hard her family had worked to hold their territory, Laura had still left it all behind. She wasn't like her mom, Talia Hale had been strong, but kind, she had been serious, but funny, and she could make you feel like the center of the universe, or a small insignificant bug. She would have rained hell down on the Argent's, but Laura wasn't strong enough. She couldn't avenge her family, but she could protect Derek.

She might have been the heir, but Derek was the one that was truly born to be an Alpha. Derek wasn't perfect, he was temperamental, impatient, and stubborn. But he had a heart of gold, and it didn't take Laura long to see that he would make a far better Alpha than Laura ever did. Laura couldn't see the big picture, she would always put her own desires first, but Derek had sacrificed his own happiness to pull his Pack together. They weren't unbreakable, but within the few days that Derek had pushed Stiles away, their pack bonds had tripled in strength.

That doesn't mean she hadn't wanted to shake some sense into her brother.

Stiles loved him, and Derek loved Stiles. Derek was just being an idiot, he was afraid that he was going to get hurt again, and couldn't even recognize that Stiles was the real deal.

Watching Derek flourish made Laura happy and sad, because she was so proud, but she wished she could have been there beside him. Careful what you wish for, huh?

One second she was watching over Cora, Isaac and Jackson, and then suddenly her vision was burning silver, and everything went dark. It took her a moment to realize it was dark because she was underground, and she couldn't breath.

Laura wasn't sure how long she was like this, but she was beginning to loose consciousness again when the top of her coffin was ripped open, flooding her with sweet oxygen, and brining with it the sensation of life.

She was _alive_.

She could feel the itchiness of her dress, the pounding of her heart, and the wind on her face. She could smell freshly cut grass, flowers, and vanilla perfume. She could hear nervous whispering, and two hearts beating above her, as Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd helped her out of the grave.

"Laura Hale?" Erica gasped, and Laura watched as sparks of silver magic retreated underneath her skin, easing the last bit of pain in her stomach.

"Tell me everything" Laura whispered, her voice thick, and Erica and Vernon exchanged a cautious look, before Erica launched into an explanation as they lead her back towards the car.

* * *

Derek - Stiles

Erica - Boyd

Scott - Malia

Cora - Isaac

Lydia - Aidan

Jackson - Ethan - Danny

Laura - Jordan

Alison - OC

Chris - Peter

Melissa - John


	8. Chapter 8

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's

* * *

Stiles walked into his art exam beside Sabrina, and noticed a middle aged man in a sharp business suit looking out of place between the paints and easels, talking to Madame Brianna. The man was clearly not an artist, he had greying dark blonde hair, cold blue eyes and broad shoulders. He had an air of importance, like he was used to getting what he wanted.

Stiles pushed the man to the back of his mind, and focused on his exam. He had to create a drawing, pencil or charcoal, of a defining moment in his life. Stiles didn't even realize his hand was moving until suddenly he found himself looking at a rough sketch of Derek and him in the backseat of his Camaro, Stiles was hard lines and dark shadows, raw and painful, but his features were completely unidentifiable, with his face turned towards the seat in ecstasy. It was a side view, Stiles straddling Derek, with his head turned away, and Derek was shifted, his teeth brushing Stiles neck, his face mostly indistinguishable. unless you knew that face like Stiles did... Derek's clawed hands gripped Stiles thigh, anchoring himself with Stiles body, his struggle for control obvious on his face, but his touch was gentle, and was a conflicting mix of harsh lines and soft curves. Broken, but beautiful... The more detail Stiles added, the more he felt like crying, but he couldn't stop. The two of them were completely naked, but their positioning kept you from seeing anything important. Derek was strong and sturdy, dangerous and beautiful, while Stiles was weary and soft, loyal and abandoned.

"Stiles..." Sabrina gasped, and Stiles pulled back a few minutes before the bell had rung to find most the class looking at his creation in awe.

"Alright, everyone, except Stiles, may leave early. I hope to see you all next year, and keep the artistic spirit alive this summer!" Madame Brianna called out, and most the class filtered out without question, only Sabrina and a few others looking at Stiles curiously, but Stiles waved them ahead.

"This is the man from your earlier work?" the man asked, once the room had emptied, and Stiles looked over at him, wiping his hands clean with a rag.

"You must be the art dealer Madame Brianna mentioned" Stiles guessed, and Madame Brianna smiled ecstatically.

"Stiles, this is Thomas, I dated his brother a few years ago, and he's sold a few of my better pieces over the years. When I showed him your work, he became interested, and wanted to showcase your work" Madame Brianna said, and Stiles looked down at his hands, anxiously twisting his fingers.

"I don't know, Madame Brianna, I don't... Some of my work is really personal. Is there any way no one could know it was me?" Stiles asked, and Thomas tilted his head thoughtfully.

"An Anonymous Artist? It could work, do you know what your stage name would be? I already have a seller for your first piece, and I noticed you sighed it as Little Red" Thomas crossed his arms, and Stiles smiled in amusement.

"Yeah, that would work" Stiles agreed, and suddenly Thomas was pulling out a large stack of paperwork, and Brianna was helping him navigate the technicalities, and from the displeased look on Thomas's face, he wasn't so happy with the 60% of the proceeds going to Stiles, but Madame Brianna seemed to like him, and wouldn't let Thomas manipulate him.

"Alright, the online auction is on Saturday at noon, and bidding closes at two. Feel free to watch the offers, but the money will be transferred over by Monday. Please call me when you have the next piece" Thomas said swiftly, and Madame Brianna shot him a warm smile before leading Thomas out of the school, and Stiles left to catch up with James and David.

* * *

That night, Stiles found himself standing in a deserted field surrounded by the Blue Crescent circle, dressed in a pair of simple cotton pants. Stiles had advanced quickly through the basics of magic, part of which was thanks to the Hale Grimoire, and was still learning the common knowledge, creature differentiating, defensive and offensive spells, common potions, and basic ward structures. But Louise had seemed impressed, and had insisted that Stiles come with them for the Summer Solstice gathering, where they would tap into the magic of the Summer Solstice. Louise had warned him he would always get more of a connection on the Winter Solstice, seeing as one of his attributes was cold, but he could still join in with the others.

"Stiles, I'm glad you could make it. I know your in the middle of your exams" Louise beamed as she strode over as Stiles got out of his car, the sun setting on the horizon, and Stiles handed her a platter of his triple chocolate brownies, and a fruit tray.

"I went delicious and healthy" Stiles smiled in amusement as her eyes followed the brownies in temptation, but Stiles hip bumped the door closed and took the food over to the table that had been set up for after the ceremony.

"Ah, you must be Louise's Apprentice, she's told us nothing about you" a middle aged woman smiled kindly, and Stiles turned to face the woman, rubbing his hands along his hips as he smiled.

"Yeah, hi, I'm Stiles, its nice to meet the rest of Louise's coven" Stiles held out a hand, and the witch shook it, only for her eyes to widen in surprise.

"I'm Rose... And you are incredibly powerful for a Spark, who was your ancestor?" Rose asked, and Stiles tilted his head in confusion.

"Ancestor? Which one?" Stiles asked, and Rose smiled and gave a small amused laugh.

"All Spark's get their powers because somewhere along the line, there was a witch, or fae, or something magical. Have you not researched who your creature ancestor is?" Rose clicked her tongue, and Louise slid up beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"We have more important subjects than Stiles genealogy, I figured it would be best to have him firmly in the door before shipping him off across the world to track down his extended family" Louise said, and Stiles eyes widened in surprise.

"Is it really that important?" Stiles asked, and Rose nodded seriously.

"A lot of the more powerful rituals need you to call upon your ancestors, in particular, demon summoning and banishing. You should start as soon as possible, there's a lot you can do with the internet these days, and the shop has some books that can fill in the blanks" Rose said, and Louise squeezed Stiles shoulder encouragingly.

"I'll help you out if your really interested, but enough about this. Rose, have you tried this kids brownies?" Louise made an embarrassing moaning sound, and Stiles cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and Rose immediately cut herself a small piece.

"Oh, you are my new favorite" Rose hummed happily, eyeing a second piece, only to be firmly lead away by Louise.

"Come on, lets introduce Stiles to the others" Louise said, and Rose sighed, but allowed herself to be moved away from the treats.

The Blue Crescent circle consisted of thirteen people, which Stiles had been told was a particularly large circle, and one of the numbers of harmony. The numbers of harmony meant the magic between a group flowed easier, made them more powerful, the most important numbers were 3, 5, 7, 9 and 13, so the Blue Crescent circle was cutting it close between harmony and inbalance, because too much power in a circle could throw off the harmony if a circles bonds weren't strong enough.

Stiles would never join the Blue Crescent circle, but he could learn from them, and in return, he would defer to them, at least in some ways. Stiles knew now that taking on an Apprentice was not a light matter, and he should be extremely grateful to Louise, and he was. She couldn't teach him everything, every magic user had to learn some things alone, but she could help him fill in some of the blanks, and gain a lifelong friend in the process.

By the time Stiles was finished mingling, he stepped into the center of the circle, and watched as the magic filled the clearing, filling Stiles with a pleasant warmth that seeped into his bones. The circle was broken, leaving all the witches with beaming smiles and a healthy glow, as music began to play, and everyone began to dance, their bodies moving, despite none of them knowing the moves. They danced until the sun rose, and their feet were bloody, and their bodies aching, but for those spare few hours, Stiles had felt as if all was right in the world, he had never been hurt, and he was no longer afraid of what hurt the future would bring.

It was nice while it lasted.

* * *

Stiles did his economics exam with his whole body aching, and his magical hangover pounding a rock concert in his head, but he felt like he still managed to pass the exam, so count your victories.

"You look like hell, and that is coming from me" David informed him when they met up on the football field, and Stiles dropped his bag to the grass and contemplated joining it, but David wanted to blow off some steam, so Stiles would try and stay awake from his friend.

"Summer Solstice last night, I am exhausted" Stiles yawned widely, and leant into the hug David wrapped him in, felling himself sway slightly, on the brink of falling asleep in the football players arms, when James and Mark were suddenly jumping on the two of them.

"You smell like blood" James growled, and David stiffened, inhaling deeply, and looked at him with glowing amber eyes.

"A lot of dancing, I'm suddenly glad this only happens twice a year" Stiles groaned, and then suddenly James was picking him up and tossing Stiles on his back.

"I'm driving you home, and Mark can bring your car back to your place. Come on, David, we both know your coming with me" James decided, and Stiles complained tiredly, but the wolves ignored his refusal's, and Stiles didn't have enough juice in him to ward them off without resorting to lethal measures, and that seemed a bit extreme.

Stiles doesn't know what happened after that because he fell asleep before they even got to James' car, and when he woke up, the two of them were gone, and Stiles was tucked into bed. He was stripped to his boxers, probably by James, and his feet had been disinfected and bandaged, probably by David. With a warm feeling in his chest, Stiles rolled over, and went back to sleep.

* * *

His last two exams went easily, and before he knew it, it was Friday, and Stiles was finished all his exams and could begin his summer plans. He wanted to learn more about magic, now that he had the basics down, it was time to delve deeper, and he was pretty excited to see what he could do.

He was lounging around in his apartment on Saturday, a book on temperature spells in his hands, when he looked up the auction cite around noon, and found the sketch he had done of Derek was already up, and nearly had a heart attack when he seen the bids were steadily making their way to the 5k margin. Thoroughly distracted, he was tracking the bids when he came across a familiar name, Chris Argent. He had bid 10k, and was asking to meet the artist, saying he was interested in Little Red's inspiration.

I guess hunters track supernatural leaks, but its not like anyone would believe werewolves were real because Stiles had drawn it. By the time the bidding had closed, Argent was buying Stiles first piece for 17k, and Stiles was having minor heart palpitations.

* * *

A few days later, David knocked on his door, his phone clutched tightly in his hand, and Stiles knew the results must be up.

"So, how did you do?" Stiles asked, shooting a look over his shoulder at the bathroom door, where Sabrina had disappeared through a minute ago.

"I haven't checked yet" David admitted, still standing in her doorway, and Stiles decided to ere on the side of caution as he stepped into the hallway, activating his werewolf wards. Things between Sabrina and David had reached an all time low, including right after David had cheated on Sabrina, and Stiles would rather the explosion not happen in his apartment. He had just bought some bookshelves and a flat screen TV, he would appreciate not having them destroyed by stressed werewolves and PMSing women, he wasn't sure which one would cause more damage, and he wasn't interested in finding out.

"Well, grow a pear and check" Stiles said, and David gave him a playful growl, but Stiles wasn't intimidated as he raised an eyebrow at the werewolf.

David cleared his throat, and looked down at his phone, logging into his school records, and loading his results, the tension in his shoulders building as Stiles crappy Wi-Fi caused it to delay for a few seconds.

"Math... 67... Spanish... 82... Economics... 76... Chemistry... 69... English... 83... Biology...72... PE... 97... Independent Study... 89..." David trailed off, his eyes unfocused, and Stiles poked him in the chest until he came back down to earth.

"That's great! You only needed an average of 70, and you definitely passed! You'll be able to be Quarterback" Stiles beamed, and suddenly Stiles was pressed between the wall and a werewolf's chest, David's hands cupping his cheeks gently as he pressed their lips together passionately.

David's lips were warm and gentle against his, and he couldn't help but melt into the kiss. He hadn't even realized how heavy things were getting until David's teeth bit down on Stiles shoulder, and Stiles realized his tank top strap had been pushed off his shoulders. Stiles knotted his fingers in the werewolves hair and rocked their hips together, moaning when he felt David's hands dance up and down his sides. Stiles opened his eyes for a second, his heart racing, and his face flushed, and suddenly gripped the athlete by his shoulders, shoving him back. Stiles couldn't meet David's eyes as he tried to catch his breath, his heart racing, and his face flushed.

"I... I cant..." Stiles stuttered, and David inhaled sharply through his nose, looking like he'd just been hit by a truck.

"Tell me what I can do?" David whispered, and Stiles choked on a bitter laugh.

"I cant, David, I'm so sorry. I left to be strong on my own, and I cant be with someone else... Not yet... I've tried to do it, to think about you and James, but I cant do this" Stiles was horrified to feel tears crawling up his throat, and suddenly David was wrapping Stiles in his arms.

"Hey, none of that," David said gently "If your not ready, well, I'm your friend first, and so is James. The summer has just started, you've still got two years before college; maybe you'll change your mind, maybe you wont, but if all you can offer is friendship, then that's good enough for me" David whispered against Stiles temple, and it felt as if a giant ball of tension dissolved in Stiles stomach.

Stiles knew that werewolves didn't share, that as light hearted James had been acting, anything serious would not have worked between the three of them. If Stiles wanted to risk the little progress he had made since coming here, he could have some crazy hot sex with the two wolves, but any normal friendship would be ruined. Add that to the fact Stiles wasn't even close to getting over Derek, and entering a new relationship while still in love with another guy would be all kinds of wrong, there was also the tension between David and Sabrina. Stiles knew choosing David would have serious repercussions on his friendship with Sabrina, and he couldn't live with himself if he was with James because he couldn't have David. He couldn't do it... Maybe at a later time, after he had grown more into himself, he could think about it again, but for now... Stiles just wasn't ready...

* * *

The summer passed much more smoothly after Stiles breakdown. David and James both pulled back on the flirting, and the tension between David and Sabrina began to ease a little bit. David, James and Mark were insistent on dragging him out a couple times a week to find a sport he was decent at. To everyone's surprise, Stiles was pretty good at soccer, he was fast, and a good mix of lean and strong, and he could take a hit better than most soccer players.

Sabrina and him played one on one games whenever the boys were away, but the five of them had been switching it up, normally with Stiles, Sabrina and Mark against David and James. The competitive spirit was definitely alive within them all, with Stiles and Mark being the most relaxed of their friend group.

However, Stiles couldn't spend his entire summer running around outside, he had work, in addition to his magical research, he was having trouble parting with some of his more emotional art pieces, managing his family, and keeping in contact with a few members of the pack.

Speaking of his magical research... After seeing how weak his magic had become after getting his speed rune so soon after his conductor, Stiles and Louise had decided what order the tattoos would be done, and how long they should wait between each one helped as well. They decided to give each tattoo six weeks to adjust to his magic, so Stiles' magic wouldn't get so overwhelmed. That meant he wouldn't be getting the next one until the middle of August, then the beginning of October, mid November, late December, ect…

In the meantime, when his friends weren't dragging him off to play sports, or generally just interrupting his sleep, Stiles was doing some self study along with his lessons with Louise. He had begun to look into his genealogy, trying to find where his magical ancestor had come from. Within a few weeks, Stiles had traced his fathers family back several generations, creating a new family tree, and had thus far procrastinated looking into his moms side.

"I doubt we'll find anything in your dads family line, Stiles, it's your moms maiden name that literally translates to Spark in Polish" Louise said exasperatedly, but Stiles stubbornly grit his teeth.

"In order to search my moms family line, I'll need to talk to my grandparents. They're still angry about me paying them back, they think I'm trying to get out of our deal" Stiles sighed in frustration and Louise plopped onto the couch beside him, dropping an arm around his shoulders.

"Alright, we'll backtrack through your dads family. There's no harm in checking, maybe you have more than one magical ancestor. It would explain why your so much more powerful than the average Spark" Louise reasoned, pulling out a stack of books, some paper, a blood red fountain pen, and her laptop.

"This pen is enchanted, see if you write down my name," she wrote her name with a flourish on the piece of paper and the ink shimmered a deep purple "the purple means I'm a witch, but when I write your friend Scott's name," she wrote Scott's name, and the ink turned golden yellow "it's beta yellow because all werewolves start as betas" she explained, and Stiles took the pen and wrote his name at the bottom of the parchment, and the ink turned purple like Louise's, but when Stiles wrote his dads name, the ink went black.

"Are humans black?" Stiles asked, and Louise nodded, and when Stiles wrote his moms name, the ink turned a dark purple, it was almost black.

"Your mom had magic in her blood, but it wasn't very strong, she would probably be capable of minor magics. Mountain ash, Potions, Runes, some simple wards, but if your dad had magic in his blood its inactive. He wouldn't be capable of anything more compelx than mountain ash" Louise explained, and Stiles began to write in his grandparents names, then his dads grandparents, then his great grandparents, before Stiles didn't know anything further.

"This is where the internet and magic can come in handy. This is a program a lot of witches use, it'll create a digitalized family tree so we don't use up an entire forest of paper, and you can print it when its completed. The pen is also enchanted to record the truth, so you know if the pen writes it down, their your direct relatives. We're not going to bother with aunts, uncles and cousins right now. If we run into a snag, there's a couple spells we can cast to find our answers" Louise explained, and over the next couple hour they followed Stiles' paternal geneology all the way back to the fifteen hundreds before they hit something.

"What's blue mean?" Stiles asked when the ink turned a metalic blue for Philip IV, and Louise frowned as she began to flip through pages of a book, comparing several samples before settling on something between siren and winter elf.

"I've never seen this shade before, maybe he's a hybrid" Louise reasoned, and her guess was proven right when they discovered Philips parents were a siren and a winter elf.

"Well, one of my attributes is cold, so I obviously inherited the winter elf genes" Stiles said, and Louise looked over at him as if he were an idiot.

"Stiles, haven't you noticed that since losing your virginity you've suddenly become much more appealing? I mean, your hot and all, but James and David? They were ready to duke it out over you, and your powers are barely emerging" Louise explained, and Stiles jaw dropped.

"No, that's not possible" Stiles denied, and she only raised an eyebrow at him dubiously, then turned back to the books.

"I'll look into it, but these are some old genes, you likely won't have that much power from them" Louise explained, and then they continued researching, the tree getting more and more complex, until they reached the medieval times, and discovered Stiles ancestor had been apart of the Polish monarchy.

"Looks like everyone thought he died without any heirs, but he actually had a daughter. Now I can say I'm literally a royal pain" Stiles laughed, and Louise looked fascinated as she studied the results.

"Stiles, this says she was first born, and the rightful heir, but because he died without a son, the title was passed down. This means, technically, your a prince of royal blood, and there are a lot of rituals that require royal blood, the more direct the better" Louise explained, and Stiles leaned over curiously.

"Well, this was centuries ago, so it must not be very direct" Stiles said, and she shrugged.

"It would take a lot more research, but its possible your a direct descendent, or at least the last living one" Louise explained, and Stiles shrugged the discovery aside.

"Maybe I'll come back to it in a couple years, but its not really important right now, its not like I'm going to conducting any powerful rituals any time soon" Stiles said, and they were able to trace his bloodline back a few more years before Louise called it quits.

"Alright, there isn't much farther we can track, even magic has some limits, and there isn't enough magic in your dads family line to anchor our spells. Its time to bite the billet and just ask your grandparents about your family" Louise said firmly, and Stiles winced, turning back to the laptop, the family tree was huge, easily several feet long.

"Well, I have dinner with them tonight, but things have been a little tense between the three of us lately. Like I said, they don't like that I paid them back" Stiles groaned, and Louise clapped him on the shoulder.

"Start small, you could start by asking them about your mom growing up. There's no hurry, the geneology will be here in a week or so, and you've still got a lot to learn about magic" Louise said, hopping to her feet, and Stiles grumbled as he pulled out the Runes book he had been reading before they got caught up on his family history.

"So, do sirens or winter elves create Sparks?" Stiles looked up at her, and she considered it.

"Some elves do, but winter elf magic is more ridged, their magic does specific things and little else. Sirens are more fluid, but their magic isn't very strong, they have their allure and some shapeshifting abilities. Your most likely looking for a lesser demon, a high fae, or something with very powerful magic. A normal witch wouldn't be able to create a Spark as powerful as you are" Laurel said, flipping through a magazine as she stretched out her legs, and Stiles was left to ponder what could be hiding within his moms bloodline.

Tonight's dinner was bound to be an interesting night...


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and original OC's

* * *

George was on time, as usual, to pick him up at their usual spot behind his apartment complex, and, as usual, he was the perfect image of manners and unruffled tranquility. What immediately set Stiles off, warning him that maybe he shouldn't have procrastinated handling his family drama, was the fact that George wasn't dressed in casual clothes, he was wear a crisp suit. And to make it worse, he wasn't driving the town car, the simple but still elegant Rolls Royce with blackout windows in the back, but instead he was driving the limo.

When George got out and opened the door, Stiles couldn't say he was surprised to find a vaguely familiar man already sitting in the back. Classically handsome, with thick dark hair, wide shoulders, and steel grey eyes, Stiles' Uncle Devin was just as impressive as the car he was sat in. His grandfathers heir, he was in his late forties, and didn't look a day over thirty five, with two children, Sam and Kevin, both in their early twenties. Stiles knew Sam better than he knew Kevin, and that wasn't saying much. They had exchanged Christmas cards, and a couple skype calls, after his moms death. Stiles still didn't know how Sam had found out, but through Sam Stiles had talked to Kevin, and his cousins Darcy and Andrew, but most his contact remained with Sam.

Which meant he knew exactly how powerful her father was, and why he had been lucky to have avoided meeting him up until this point.

Guess his luck had run out.

Even without his inheritance, Devin had made a comfortable fortune by the time he was in his mid twenties, and was an experienced politician and investor. So, why was he picking up Stiles, and how did Stiles plan to come out of this meeting in one piece, with most of his life undisturbed?

"Mieczyslaw. Don't just stand there, please, get in" Devin smiled, his teeth shining, and Stiles felt under dressed in his crisp slacks and button up as he got into the car.

"You must be Devin" Stiles said as he settled across from his uncle, refusing to be cowed.

"Yes, I am. Sam told you about me? All good things I hope" He laughed softly, and Stiles forced himself not to tense, his magic burning under his skin.

"We don't talk much, mostly about her travels, the best places in New York, her school years or pop culture" Stiles shrugged, and Devin studied him carefully.

"You look so much like Claudia" Devin declared, and, unlike with George, he did not look all that happy about this fact. Actually, he looked quite bitter, like he was looking at a distorted view of the person he hated most, but at the same time, someone he loved. Those wounds did tend to cut the deepest, maybe finally Stiles could find out what his mom did to piss off her family so much.

"Well, I did get half her genes, it was bound to happen" Stiles said drily, and Devin's eyes tightened as he looked at Stiles, a sharp smile twisting his lips.

"Ah, yes. Claudia and her police officer, John, was it? What does he think about you being so far from home? I bet he misses you" Devin mused, and Stiles barely held his magic from lashing out, but he couldn't contain a small flinch.

"What exactly do you want? Is this about me giving the money back? Because I already explained why I did it to grandfather, I don't feel comfortable being indebt to family" Stiles scowled, and Devin looked him over assessing.

"My father told me you were a minor artist, but he's never seen any of your work. I imagine my mother was not at all happy with you slipping your leash, she had quite hoped to control you better than she did your mother" Devin mused, and Stiles fists tightened by his thighs.

"I am perfectly capable of providing for myself. The art... Its a release, unlike anything else I've ever felt, but I never thought I was good enough to pursue it until recently" Stiles admitted, and Devin's face softened slightly.

"Claudia was a great artist, but she always gravitated towards drawing, and never branched out or explored her talent. A waste, if you ask me, but she never did. What do you prefer?" Devin asked, leaning back in his seat, and Stiles began to pick at his cuticles.

"I started with drawing, it was always the easiest, but I've found I get lost deeper the dirtier I get, paintings or sculpting... Those are the ones that are harder to let go of" Stiles admitted, and Devin looked out the window as they passed rows of murals and street art.

"You think this is something you want to do with your life? Or is it just a hobby?" Devin asked, and Stiles opened his mouth to answer, but found he didn't know.

Could he see himself doing art for the rest of his life, pouring his heart and soul into these pieces, only to sell them away? His first two pieces had been simple, the first was just a portrait of Derek, the part that tore him apart had been seeing the life in those eyes starring back at him, and having it only be a drawing. It had made Stiles ache to return, to look into those hazel green eyes and have them stare back at him. The second piece had been both intimate and distant, because to outsiders it just looked like two people having sex, both broken people, one with scars, and one with demons, and yet for Stiles... He remembered how he'd felt in that moment, and it was jarring, realizing that someone could look at this and not _know_ how he had felt. It wasn't even a modesty issue, none off his art showed the naughty bits, and normally Stiles kept them both mostly undefined, so it wasn't an issue of him being shy... Could he continue giving away these pieces of himself, again and again, for the rest of his life?

"I don't know… I think I'll attend University, figure out my life, and then I'll go from there" Stiles said, and some of the tension Devin had been holding melted away, and the next smile he received seemed much more genuine.

"Sirs? We've arrived" George declared, his voice coming through the speaker, and Devin's eyes sharpened as he levelled Stiles with a stern look.

"If you want to truly be apart of this family, you need to follow certain wont always be easy, you will be placed under scrutiny, your every action picked apart, your eyes movement judged, but we are stronger together" Devin said, and Stiles met his eyes stubbornly.

"I wont be chased away, but I also wont be caged. If you deserve my loyalty, then you will have it unwaveringly, but i wont be anyone's victim again" Stiles said firmly, and Devin nodded in agreement, a shine of acceptance in his eyes, and then George was opening the door, and Stiles let Devin go first, still uncomfortable showing his back to the intimidating man.

* * *

Dinner was an extravagant affair, even by his grandparents standards. A seven course meal of perfectly prepared food, because everyone else was over twenty one most of them drank wine, while Stiles stuck to his iced water, and the conversation was generally light, each of them displaying perfect manners while Stiles struggled not to talk with his mouth full. Stiles mainly tried to watch what was doing, and observed the conversations around him. Devin had brought his wife, Alicia, with him, and she was the fire to his ice. She actually reminded Stiles a lot of Lydia, fiercely intelligent, beautiful and elegant, but with a wicked temper and terrifying glare.

Of course, Stiles figured Sam and Kevin would be there, their parents were, and Stiles grandparents knew Stiles was most familiar with Sam, despite Stiles having never said anything. However, he was surprised to see that Darcy and Andrew had also turned up, and without their parents. This didn't seem to surprise anyone else, and even after a few months of being around them, Stiles knew very little about his Uncle Thomas and Aunt Naomi. He knew they were Darcy and Andrew's parents, they did a lot of travelling, and Naomi and Alicia did not get along.

Despite feeling like a barbarian in the face of the entire family's innate grace and poise, the food was good, the good conversation's, and finally getting to know his family better, Stiles much would have preferred eating pizza on his couch, binge watching Criminal Minds with his friends. However, if he wanted to get to know his moms family, he was going to have to learn to function in their high society lifestyle. Plus, he was aware that his grandparents could make life all kinds of difficult for him, if they so chose, and he would really prefer to stay on their good side.

"So, Stiles, your attending Blackwood Prep, right? What classes are you taking?" Alicia asked, taking a delicate sip of her white wine, and Stiles resisted the urge to squirm under her sharp gaze. Somehow Alicia managed to unnerve him in a way Devin hadn't managed, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. He'd known why he had to be careful around Devin, but Alicia was an unknown, he had no idea what she was capable of.

"Yes, I'm going into junior year, and I've already selected all of my classes before exams. I'm taking AP Math, AP English, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Physics, World History, Economics, and Art" Stiles explained, leaning his shoulders back, and Alicia raised a graceful eyebrow at him.

"Those are some advanced classes, you obviously inherited your intellect from your father. What does he do, exactly, I've never had the pleasure of meeting Claudia's husband" Alicia smiled angelically, and Stiles felt his magic recoil, and it was only Stiles excellent control that the only outward sign of his anger was the slight flickering of the candles on the table, and the sharp smile on his face.

"My father was a cop, he has a Major in criminology from UCLA, and I believe he got his minor in religion. He hasn't left California since my mom passed away, and, considering none of you came to their wedding, or her funeral, I don't think there is a high possibility of a family reunion" Stiles said, his tone perfectly polite, even if his words weren't, and the tension between Stiles and Alicia could have been cut with a knife.

"Anyway," Stiles grandmother cleared her throat pointedly, her eyes like steel as she looked at Alicia, "Stile's most certainly takes after Claudia with his art. Apparently he's good enough to provide for himself in New York, though I've yet to see any of his work. Why don't we move this to the lounge?" Catherine smiled, gracefully rising to her feet, and everyone soon followed.

"So, how is your shoebox of an apartment?" Sam asked as she poloped down beside him on the couch.

"Cozy," Stiles shot her a fond smile "I really appreciated the recommendation. How you find the only apartment in New York less than $1000, i don't want to know. Plausable deniability and all" Stiles said, and Sam laughed loudly, making most the room look over.

"There's nothing illegal with what I did, rest assured, I simply called in a favor. The owner's girlfriend is an old high school friend, we were on the volleyball team together" Sam bumped his shoulder, and Stiles sighed.

"Does that mean my rent is going to triple if they break up? Because that would suck" Stiles grumbled, and Sam rolled her eyes.

"From what I hear, your not exactly short on cash" Sam gave him a dry look, and Stiles gave her an innocent smile back.

"I have a bit, but I'm trying to use it sparingly, since I don't know how much my next piece will make, or if I can actually part with any of my pieces" Stiles sighed, and Sam gave him a stern glare.

"Your mostly drawing your ex, aren't you? That is such a bad idea, Stiles you have no idea. If you want my advice, you should try drawing other stuff, a fruit bowl, the sunset, a damn coffee cup, just expand your repertoire, and maybe sell something that isn't emotionally scarring" Sam suggested, and Stiles thought about it, and resolved to try drawing other things, and maybe eventually he would be able to draw Derek without feeling like he was giving up a piece of himself.

* * *

Stiles hadn't really tried to create anything other than what his magic had directed, apparently his magic really enjoyed drawing Derek, so picking up a piece of charcoal, Stiles had to concentrate on suppressing his magic. He pictured shoving his magic as a river flowing through his body, and then he pulled all the water to a central point, behind his heart, and imagined incasing it on all sides with an immovable dam.

This time, there was no frenzied rush to pour his heart and soul into his art, he felt relaxed and calm as he began a rough sketch of the fruit bowl on his counter. After he was done, he pulled back, and seen it was a nice piece, he'd done rather well and he imaged Madame Brianna would definitely give him an A, but he didn't feel drained. He felt lighter, his fingers tingled and he felt proud of his work, but it wasn't all encompassing.

For the next several hours, Stiles drew at random, he wanted to explore his art in a way he had never done before. He drew the school, his empty coffee cup on his coffee table, a stack of books beside it, and the Hale House. He drew his mom, her eyes shining with mischief, and her smile smile wide. He drew Louise, confident and dangerous, but kind, she carried an air of dramatic mysteriousness. He drew countless other people, places and things, and it was only when it grew too dark to see did he realize he had been drawing all day, he hands eaten anything, he'd barely drank anything besides coffee all day, his hands were blistered, his back ached, and yet he had never felt better.

He felt as if there was something inside him that had been healed, like a small part of him had been able to let go of his past and aceept his new life as his future.

Carefully stretching his sore body, Stiles looked around his tiny apartment, drawings, pencil, pencil crayon, chalk or charchol, all were scattered around him, covering every surface and wall, and giving him a sense of peace.

Stiles left them be, and he head for the kitchen, pulling out a carton of leftover Chinese food, he devoured it ravenously, and drank three glasses of water before stumbling to his bedroom and crashing into his bed, asleep within seconds.

* * *

Before Stiles knew it, the summer was coming to a close and Stiles and Louise were sitting down to decide which tattoo he would be getting next.

"We should do the stamina or durability rune. It's not too strong, and it connects to your conductor and speed rune. It'll complete the circuit, instead of leaving it open for tampering" Louise argued, and Stiles crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I think I should do the immunity rune. It's also connected to the conductor, and if I close the circuit before getting immunity, it won't be as strong. Plus, I'll get more use out of being immune to poisons than stamina. My stamina isn't that bad as it is" Stiles declared, and Louise gave him a salty glare.

"That's what you think" she grumbled, walking away,conceding to him ungracfully, her arms crossed as she walked away, and Stiles just rolled his eyes in frustration, and turned back to their sketches of his tattoos. Stiles was still researching all the factors within them, even months later, and he had firmly decrypted only a couple of them. What confused him was the three tattoos on his upper back, which weren't connected to anything, but looked like there was something missing about it. Another tattoo that his magic hadn't been ready to disclose, but would in time.

Another tattoo that confused him was the fox on the back of his neck. Because unlike the others, it wasn't made of complex Runes connected to form patterns of smooth curves, graceful lines, harsh twists and sharp corners. It was just a dark fox, bigger than normal, and crouched in a defensive position. Teeth gleaming, parts of the fur was darker with blood, and the only rune on the whole thing was a single gold rune on the centre of its forehead. Stiles had searched for it, but couldn't find anything on it, not even Louise or Rose had any idea what it meant, so Stiles was pretty sure that would be the last tattoo he was supposed to get.

"I'm gonna head out, I'll be back tomorrow to pick up the supplies before I head over to Cam's. I'm getting the Immunity, but I'll get Stamina next, I promise" Stiles said, and Louise sighed, but lost the tension in her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. It's just... Your so new to the craft, and your magic is still so raw, I just don't want you to regret anything. I know it's your body, and you should do what feels right, I just wanted to help guild you" Louise said apologetically, and Stiles wrapped her in a warm hug.

"I understand. Your my mentor, but this is something I have to do for myself, and no one else can tell me how to do this" Stiles said firmly, and Louise nodded. She didn't look happy about it, but it wasn't her choice to make, and Stiles knew she would respect that.

"Good luck, let me know how it goes" Louise said worriedly, and Stiles rolled his eyes. He knew she was worried about the tattoo, but it would be fine. The tattooing process for a strong immunity rune included trace amounts of hemlock, and if someone wasn't strong enough, it could easily kill someone. But Stiles was stubborn, and his magic was strong, so he had no reason to believe anything would go wrong. Louise was just being parinoid, he knew he would be fine. He could feel it in his magic.

The next day he went to Cam's house, and, as expected, things went smoothly. The tattoo ink was mixed, Cam gave him the usual warnings, some light flirting was done, and then Stiles stripped. Since the immunity rune wrapped around his upper thigh like a snake, curving over his hip to intertwine with his conductor rune, he had to take his pants and underwear off. Cam looked away, and when he turned back around, Stiles was on the table with the towel covering his junk but leaving his leg exposed as Cam got comfortable and began the tattooing process. Whatever minor mistakes he made could be corrected by Stiles magic, but Cam really was the best in the business. He had extensive rune knowledge, even if he had relatively weak magic, and was an amazing artist.

"Alright, your done" Cam said when he pulled back, Stiles had flipped to his stomach to Cam could do the back, and it wasn't the pain that had Stiles blushing hotly. Parts of the tattoo had spread up to cover the swell of his ass, and so Cam has to get pretty close, and Stiles hadn't felt this embarrassed since asking Lydia to the eighth grade dance.

"Okay" Stiles slowly sat up, walking over to the mirror, towel awkwardly hanging on him as he looked at the tattoo and summoned his magic to the surface. This time the ink flowed silver, Stiles was nearly knocked over by the unexpected power in his tattoos. The immunity Runes main job was immunity to poisons, but the more powerful ones would make Stiles immune to sickness, from small things like the flu, to much more serious things like cancer. It was rare for a immunity tattoo to be that powerful, but then again, most the time immunity Runes were the size of his palm, not spanning most of his thigh and hip.

"You okay?" Cam asked worriedly, reaching to steady him, and Stiles took a deep breath, which suddenly felt so much clearer and clean.

"I'm good. Just stronger than I had thought it would be" Stiles presses a hand to his forehead, his towel slipping slightly, and Cam's cheeks blushed lightly as he turned around and handed Stiles his pants and boxers, and Stiles face turned dark red as he pulled his underwear on, wincing as it pressed against the exposed tattoo. Just because his magic sealed the ink, didn't erase the fact he'd just spent hours being stabbed with needles. It would be sore for a few days before his magic finished healing it completely, and then it would be weeks before his magic could handle doing it again.

"Alright, Stiles, just take it easy for a few days" Cam said, clapping a hand onto Stiles shoulder, and stills pulled a stack of bills from his pocket, and handed them over.

By the time he got all his tattoos done, he wasn't going to have any money left from his tutoring and art sales. As soon as he turned eighteen in April, he could start using his moms life insurance money, but until then he had to keep his head down. He didn't want to take money from his grandparents, but between them and returning home? There was no question, he would have to take the money.

Stiles had worked so hard to build a life here, and he was still no here near ready to go home. Being in New York, learning magic, doing art, making friends and getting to know his family... It was good for him, it helped distract him, and gave him hope for a better future. He couldn't go back yet, he wasn't ready. Stiles hadn't bribed the landlord with almost everything he had to get into his apartment, he hadn't pulled every favor to his name, left his whole life behind, only to be dragged back to that hell hole of a town.

"Don't worry, my plans for the next few days involve Netflix, a couple ice packs and a giant tub of ice cream. I'll see you in six weeks, Cam" Stiles smiled, and Cam rolled his eyes fondly as Stiles turned, grabbing his bag on his way out the door.

Stiles was serious about taking it easy for the next couple days, which meant he was extremely unhappy about the hunter waiting for him in his apartment. The man was huge, a mountain of muscle and aggression that could only come from steroids, with duzzed blonde hair, brown eyes and currently accessorize with a lovely AK47.

Stiles barely had time to register that the man wasn't alone, and activate his wards, before something hard hit him across the temple, and then everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's

* * *

Stiles woke up to the sudden shock of cold water, the chill seeping deep into his bones, and making his back arch, though he couldn't move much because his shoulders, arms and legs were bound in rope against a wooden chair.

"Glad you could join us" a smirking face appeared in Stiles vision, and Stiles tried to concentrate, but every time he reached for his magic, the ropes tightened, and the hunters watched him mockingly.

"How did you deactivate my wards?" Stiles gasped as someone grabbed his hair, tilting his head back sharply, and setting a blade against his jugular. Stiles could feel their breath against his neck, sending shivers of disgust through his body, but he tried not to move to avoid cutting himself.

"Neat trick, eh? When Brian turned up dead, we knew he went after you alone. Stupid, considering you managed to take down Argent Senior, and obviously had some fucked up magic" the ringleader, the man Stiles has noticed when he'd first walked in, said as he leaned against the wall across from Stiles.

"Yeah, it was impressive. Except for the fact that you didn't dismantle them, which meant as soon as I walked through the door they were reactivated" Stiles said, and all of the hunters stiffened in alarm, but the ringleader remained calm.

"If that were true, your wards would have immediately killed us" he said confidently, and Stiles felt a darkness bubble in his chest and he met the hunters eyes unafraid.

"Only if that's what my wards were designed to do" Stiles said calmly, though inside he wasn't as confident as he might appear. It was true that he had reactive the wards, but he had no way of knowing which wards had been activated unless he could get out of these magic binding ropes. His wards had several layers, and since they were all in one piece, obviously his more aggressive wards hadn't had the chance to activate.

The hunter seemed unconcerned, leaning leisurely against the wall, and then someone was holding up a charcoal sketch of the Hale House. Peter had told him about the rebuild back in June, having asked Stiles if he could create some designs, and he had developed several blueprints, and sent copies of his favorites ahead.

He'd also implemented as much magic as he could, most of it would remain inactive, unless someone with significant magical power were to go there in person to tie them all together. He'd sent Peter extensive instructions on the Runes that should be carved into all the stones, and had given him information of where the strongest ley lines in the preserve were. There were other security they would implement, like underground tunnels, or the fire resistent stones.

He'd kept most of his research at the shop, where Rose kept a enchanted bank vault in the back, and he very much doubted that they could have gotten into the shop, let alone the vault. So they much have found some of the architecture designs that he left in his apartment.

The sketch in their hands was some of his favourites. After sending the copies to Peter's PO box, Stiles had thrown out a majority of them, but had really liked some of them, and had kept them in case he ever wanted to design his own house. Hopefully, the Pack had chosen one of those, and these ones would be useless to the hunters.

"Which one is the real blueprints to the new Hale House?" The hunter placed the blueprints on his lap, and Stiles couldn't help but laugh, causing the knife to knick his neck, and a drop of blood drip down his neck.

"So that's what this is about. You want information on the new Hale Pack, eh? Going to try and burn this one down too?" Stiles sneered, and despite all the hurt and betrayal he felt towards the Pack, he knew in his heart that he would rather die than tell them anything.

He might be angry, and hurt, but they didn't deserve this.

"The Hale Pack managed to resurrect two dead Hale's. Considering it was thought werewolves can't use magic, and their only other magical aid is a Druid, we have every right to be concerned" the hunter holding him hissed, and Stiles rolled his eyes.

"God, I can't believe you people managed to get through my wards," Stiles said in disgust, "none of the Hale's resurrected anyone, and Cora Hale wasn't even dead, she was _presumed_ dead" Stiles scoffed, and the man let go of his hair, pulling the knife away so Stiles could look at the head honcho properly.

"How do you know this? Was it the banshee, we've never heard of a banshee being able to resurrect the dead. What did the Hale Pack do?" The asked eagerly, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes as he leaned towards Stiles.

"No, you moron. If banshees could resurrect the dead everyone and their mother would know by now. It was me, I resurrected Laura Hale" Stiles rolled his eyes, and they all froze, looking at him in surprise.

"Your too young, it takes years before a Spark has that kind of raw power" The man sneered, and Stiles was genuinely insulted that these bozos had managed to catch him.

"Did any of you even bother to _check_ what my attributes are? Or did you just barge in, ruffle through my stuff, and slap the enchanted rope on as an afterthought?" Stiles demanded, his head was beggining to pound, but he could feel the magic in his ropes fraying under his strain.

"Who cares if they didn't bring the beast back? Their monsters, lets just burn them like Kate Argent did" one of the hunters insisted, and Stiles grit his teeth with strain, feeling his magic rush through his body, but remain contained to his body.

"Which blueprint is the real one?" The man with the knife pressed the blade against Stiles cheek, gently dragging the edge down his neck, and then his chest. The blade cut through the thin fabric of Stiles silk shirt, and Stiles internally cursed when his speed rune was exposed.

"What is that? What does it do?" The leader demanded, and Stiles grit his teeth as the man pressed his blade against Stiles tattoo.

"It's just runes, their used to enhance our senses or healing" Stiles grit through his teeth as the man tried to cut the tattoo, but then jumped back when it flowed silver, and healed the small cut.

"Oh, fun" the knife perv grinned, and Stiles felt the ropes give one last tug of resistance before the magic collapsed, and Stiles magic rushed through his body and settled in his hands.

"Enough, Evans. You'll get your chance to play if Mr. Stilinski doesn't tell us what we want to know. Lets see... This one looks the biggest" the leader held up a charchol sketch of a elegant four story building with Victorian accents, tall windows, a large porch, and even bigger driveway. Personally, Stiles felt that one had been a bit dramatic, but he's sure Lydia would have loved it.

"You do realize I sent ahead about thirty designs, and after I was done... I threw about twenty of them out" Stiles smiled cheekily, focusing on reading the magic around the hunters, but the pounding in his head was making it harder to concentrate.

Most of the wards hadn't activated in time, except for the tracking ward that was currently pulsing, the nightmare ward, karma ward, and sickness ward. Stiles was sure each of these hunters would be dead within a year, probably from cancer, or some other terminal illness. Sure, they could try chemo, but it would just come back, and unless they found someone who's magic was stronger, no one except him could reverse the spell.

"Your lying, it would take months to design thirty houses" The man hissed, and Stiles rolled his eyes as he focused on tapping into the tracking ward, and was rewarded by the ward locking into his location.

"Except I only developed the base structure, and the some of the security, but all of those plans are locked away safely" Stiles smiled prettily, and the knife happy hunter snarled and reached to stab him in the leg, but the blade crumbled to dust against his skin, and at that moment, the ropes snapped, the chair collapsed, and Stiles was immediately on his feet.

He's not sure what happened, one moment he's sending out a blast of raw magic, knocking everyone around him unconscious, and the next he's fallen to his knees, his head spinning, and his cuts throbbing.

"Shit" Stiles scrambled to his feet, swiping the knife that the hunter had used to cut him, and began trying to stumble out of the warehouse. He's not sure how he managed to get out, but he vaguely remembers running into a couple groups of hunters, but he can't remember what he did to get past them.

"Stiles!" Someone shouted as he threw himself out of the warehouse, and then his vision went dark as warm arms wrapped around him, and he got a whiff of dark chocolate.

"Derek" Stiles whispered, his heart racing, and then everything went dark.

* * *

 _Stiles could feel the warmth of sunlight on his back, his body was loose and relaxed, his heart beating solidly in his chest, and his magic stirring lightly beneath his skin. He could feel soft sheets against his naked skin, and warm hands were drawing patterns up and down his spine, their touch was gentle and adoring._

 _It didn't take Stiles long to remember that something about this was off. He remembered being kidnapped, and the poisoned knife, shouldn't he be hurt or sick? For a second he entertained the idea that this was heaven, but who would let Stiles through the pearly front gates? No one, that's who._

 _A gentle kiss was pressed to his neck, warm lips and rough stubble pressing against his skin, and Stiles knew this was hell._

 _Wood smoke and mint. Dark chocolate and cinnamon._

 _Derek._

 _"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty" Derek whispered against his neck, and Stiles relaxed against the sheets, his heart pounding. Maybe he was dead, but most likely, this was just a dream, a wonderful dream, where Derek wanted him. In his dreams, Stiles never left, Derek had convinced him to stay, he was a part of a loving Pack, and woke up in Derek's bed every morning._

 _"I thought we agreed that I'm definitely Little Red" Stiles smiled, the words passing through his lips before he realized what he meant to say._

 _"I guess that makes me the Big Bad Wolf, who ruined your innocence and tried to eat you" Derek smirked against his shoulder, playfully biting Stiles, and Stiles reached behind, his grabbing a handful of Derek's ass._

 _"Oh, I don't mind" Stiles whispered, turning his head to flash Derek a sultry smirk, and Derek's eyes flashed red at him, a predatory and hungry gleam entering his eyes, and Stiles hummed pleasantly as Derek ran his hands over Stiles' body possessively._

 _"Hmm, you smell amazing. Like us" Derek growled against Stiles neck, and Stiles gasped as Derek rolled them over so Stiles was on his stomach under Derek, who was kneeling between Stiles spread legs._

 _"What do I smell like?" Stiles hummed pleasantly as Derek ran soft kisses down his spine, until he reached the curve of Stiles ass._

 _"Like lightning and dark chocolate" Derek whispered, and Stiles felt his heart lurch, and his magic flared between the two of them, making them both gasp, and Stiles felt his vision go white for a second._

He came back to himself as Derek pressed a kiss against his shoulder blade, whispering Stiles' name against his skin, the amount of longing in his tone nearly bringing Stiles to tears, because he would never hear that tone from the real Derek.

"Derek, come on" Stiles squirmed impatiently, and Derek smiled against his skin, his fingers trailing down his sides to take hold of his hips, and then he was burying his face in Stiles' ass.

Stiles couldn't believe how realistic this dream felt, because even though Derek hadn't had the chance to do this to him in real life, it was exactly how he'd imagined it. Only better.

Stiles wasn't particularly known for controlling what came out of his mouth, but as Derek used his lips, tongue and teeth to gently open Stiles up, he had no idea that he could even make half the sounds he did.

It could have been minutes or hours that passed, and Stiles would never know. All he knew was Derek would not let him move his lips, and he insisted of continuing his gentle exploration of Stiles asshole. Stiles must have been a major masochist, because he'd never imagined his subconscious could torture him so much, without giving into what his body was screaming for.

Stiles had thought he'd remained rather composed the night he and Derek had sex, at least considering he was a loudmouthed seventeen year old virgin, but this? Apparently he was a big fan of rimming, and his ego was suddenly grateful that the real Derek would never see him like this. Begging pleas fell from his lips on an endless loop, but Derek remained unaffected, an stubbornly attached to his ass.

"Derek Hale, if you don't fuck me right now... " Stiles moaned, unable to finish his threat with his brains about to spill from his ears.

"So eager" Derek hummed against his rims, the vibrations sending bolts of pleasure up his spine.

"Yes, yes, I am eager, Derek. God, I want you so bad, I need it, please, please, Derek, just fuck me" Stiles whimpered, struggling to move his hips in Derek's solid, but gentle, grip.

"Louder, I want everyone to know. Go on, tell them how you like it, how I'm the only one that can make you feel this one, how bad you want it" Derek purred, and Stiles moaned loudly as Derek slipped two fingers inside him, the fingers slipping in effortlessly, and Derek pressed them right beside his prostate.

"Oh god, Derek! Shit, I can't! Please, give me more! Derek, harder, please please please" Stiles babbled, trying to move his hips, but Derek remained pinning Stiles down as he fucked Stiles with his fingers.

Derek kept his pace slow and deep, never quite touching that spot that made Stiles go wild, but getting close enough that every time he drove Stiles just a little bit crazier.

"Fuck me like I'm yours, Derek. Fuck me like an Alpha" Stiles hissed out, his tone teasing, and Derek's hand tightened on his back, his breath catching as he tried to control himself.

"Stiles" Derek said warningly, his tone tense, and his breath labored.

"Can you do it? Or should I ask someone else?" Stiles teased, but was soon regretting taunting the possessive Alpha.

Before Stiles knew what was happening, Stiles had been picked up from the bed and slammed against a wall, his legs wrapped around Derek's hips, Derek's hands on his ass, parting his cheeks as he slipped right in.

Derek gave him no time to adjust to his substantial size, slamming straight in, he pounded against Stiles prostate as he pounced Stiles on his dick. If Stiles thought he was loud before, it was nothing compared to _this_.

Stiles was a screaming mess, he couldn't do anything except wrap himself around the alpha and take what he was given. His body was a mess of pleasure, his ass merely a vessel for his Alpha's rage and desire. It was moments like this that reminded Stiles that he'd been fucked by _Derek_ before, but never the beast within.

The Alpha didn't stop when Stiles came the first time, or the second, or the third, he just kept going, pumping Stiles full of werewolf cum, and painting Stiles in his own seed. Stiles was practically limp between the Alpha and the wall, but Stiles didn't tell him to stop, he just held on tighter, and forced his body to relax, determined to show his Alpha that he could handle anything he moved to lay on the bed, the Alpha's ten inch cock still lodged firmly against his prostate, Stiles was delirious with pleasure, and he had never felt more stuffed in his life.

"Mine" red eyes glared at him possessively, and Stiles offered him a naughty little smirk, moving his hips lazily, tightening down on the Alpha's dick.

"Hmm. Yours" Stiles slurred, and red eyes faded as Derek came back to his senses, and Stiles rolled them over, bouncing lightly until Derek threw his head back with a yell.

Stiles had nothing left to offer, after four orgasms, he was thoroughly exhausted, and he couldn't feel his ass as he fell forwards onto Derek's chest.

"Tattoos. Hate needles" Derek frowned against his neck, inhaling gulps of Stiles scent, and Stiles laughed against his chest.

"Runes. Magic ink" Stiles mumbled, and Derek rolled them over, and carefully pulled out of Stiles. Derek's eyes remained locked on the abused rim as cum dribbled out of Stiles ass, and just kept coming.

"I love you" Derek whispered, looking awed as he curled up against Stiles side, and Stiles felt his heart shatter a little bit.

"No, you don't, but that's okay" Stiles whispered, and Derek gripped him tightly, and Stiles fell asleep to Derek sucking possessive bruises onto Stiles chest, hips and thighs.

* * *

The next time Stiles woke up, it wasn't anywhere near as pleasant.

Upon waking up, he could tell he had no broken bones or stitches, but his body ached as if someone had broken him into a thousand pieces, and then tried to glue him back together while blindfolded. Stiles was distracted from his misery when the door opened, and suddenly one witch, one human, and three werewolves were bounding towards him. Louise claimed the spot sitting next to me, much to David and James frustration, and Sabrina practically draped herself over Louise as she grabbed Stiles hand.

"Do not ever scare me like that again" Sabrina demanded, tightening her hold, as if afraid he was going to evaporate into dust.

"Ugh, no arguments here, I feel terrible" Stiles grumbled, curling into Louise's side, and Louise ran an anxious hand through Stiles' hair.

"Come on, Rose left this for you" Louise said, reaching for a potion on his bedside table. It was a thick, dark grey concoction that smelt lime lemons and cabbage, but when faced with Louise's stern glare, he bit back any complaints and held his nose as he choked the vile thing down.

"That was the worst thing I'd ever had in my mouth" Stiles gaged, shoving the glass back at her, sulking as she laughed at him.

"The intense healing potions are always the worst, its why most people just prefer to use immunity runes" Louise said, and Stiles smiled tiredly at her, but his heart froze when his eyes shot over to Sabrina, who was scowling at him.

"Don't worry, they told me everything" Sabrina said, the unspoken 'because you didn't' hung between us, and Stiles couldn't hold her gaze as he sat up a bit.

"I'm sorry, but you have no idea how dangerous this world can be" Stiles said defensively, and Louise sighed in frustration, looking like she very much wanted to hit him, but didn't because he was already injured.

"Stiles, your an idiot. Sabrina is a Spark, too, its why you were drawn to each other, and have become close friends so quickly" Louise explained, and Stiles jaw dropped in shock as he looked at his new friend, sending his magic out towards her probingly.

His magic slipped right through her, with no resistance from any sort of magic, and Stiles was even more confused. She didn't have any defenses, not even the barest trace of a active magic, but when Stiles let his magic sink deeper, he discovered what felt like a small flame burning in her chest.

"I've been too busy to test it out, but Louise said she'd help me, now that your almost done your training" Sabrina explained, her cheeks tinging pink, and Stiles smiled, sitting up in excitement.

"You can do magic! Oh my god, this is going to be so much fun" Stiles grinned, and Sabrina laughed at him, before gently pushing his shoulders so that he was laying down again.

"I'm getting used to this whole teacher gig, maybe I'll start charging admission" Louise teased, and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly.

"Okay, Yoda, whatever you say," Stiles nudged her teasingly, and she gave him an exaggerated pout "Do you really think I'm almost done?" Stiles asked, changing the subject, and Louise turned thoughtful.

"You weren't completely clueless when you came to me, Stiles. You already knew a lot about mythology and folklore, you knew a bunch about potions ingredients, and some minor runes. These last few months, all I did was fill in the gaps, and let you do your own thing. So, yeah, I think your almost at the point where you wont need my guidance anymore" Louise explained, and Stiles felt his cheeks flush, a smile curving his lips.

"Still, you taught me so much about spell crafting, rituals, and potion brewing" Stiles said, and Louise laughed at him.

"I've got a few more things to show you, but I can only teach you the basics, Stiles, you know that" Louise said, giving him a warm smile, and Stiles tried to hide his discomfort.

What would happen when Stiles didn't need Louise anymore? Would he have to find a new job? Would they still be friends? He didn't like the thought of their relationship being over, now that Stiles was ready to learn independently.

"Don't be scared, your going to do fine" Louise nudged him, and the boys started talking, settling around his body on the bed, and Stiles let their familiar voices sooth him until he fell into a deep sleep in the middle of James' story about football practice.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's

* * *

Stiles woke up a few hours later by the smell of coffee brewing, and practically stumbled into his kitchen. It had only taken Rose a moment to declare him poison free, and he hadn't wasted any time returning to his own apartment to go over his wards. Louise had offered to help him, but he knew she wouldn't approve of some of his more aggressive wards, and he wasn't interested in hearing the lecture.

"Look who's back with the living" Sabrina bounced forwards, wrapping her arms around Stiles shoulders, and he gripped her in a tight hug, and breathing in her familiar scent.

"Hey, why are you here?" Stiles asked, taking the coffee she offered him with a thankful smile.

"Its my turn to make sure you don't die in your sleep. And before you start, it was David's idea" Sabrina said, her cheeks flushing, and Stiles raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"You and David actually had a conversation, and neither of you are dead, maimed, or otherwise injured? Okay, this I need to hear" Stiles demanded as they both sat at on the couch, Sabrina gripping her coffee cup tightly between her hands.

"Well... Louise called each of us asking if we'd seen you, she didn't tell me much, but when I showed up at the shop, David and James had wolfed out, and Louise and Mark were occupied with James, so I had to calm David down. I was freaked out, you have no idea, but you were in some sort of trouble, and we didn't have time for David to have a meltdown" Sabrina said, running a hand through her curly red hair nervously, avoiding Stiles eyes as she looked down at her coffee as if it held the answers of the world.

"Okay. So, how did you calm him down? Your not secretly a werewolf, right? Because I've read that some wolves can disguise their scent" Stiles said, and Sabrina laughed, meeting his eyes for a second, before turning back to her coffee.

"No, I'm completely human. I don't know what I did, but I was yelling at him, because I was scared and worried and upset, and I just... I completely broke down into tears" Sabrina admitted, and Stiles gripped her hand tightly.

"The damsel approach, that's always a good one" Stiles smirked, and she looked up sharply, her eyes practically on fire as she glared at him.

"Excuse me?" She demanded, and Stiles laughed at her, taking a slow sip of his coffee.

"I've learnt more about Pack dynamics in the last few weeks than my entire time actually being in a pack. Male werewolves are extremely possessive and protective, especially over their mates, or close friends" Stiles said, and Sabrina's face burned the same color as her hair.

"David is my mate?!" She demanded, and Stiles burst into laughter.

"Well, how should I know? I can think of a couple spells that can confirm it, but soul magic is complex for a reason" Stiles said, and Sabrina set her mug on the coffee table with shaking hands.

"David... He said Steve is an incubus" Sabrina said, her jaw tight, and this time it was Stiles who set his mug down with shaking hands.

"Oh, Sabrina," Stiles sighed, taking her hands in his "David is a born werewolf, and he's mostly immune to incubus pheromones. Unless Steve imprinted on David, there would be very little effect of trying to seduce a werewolf" Stiles explained, and she waved a hand in front of her face.

"No, no, David didn't try to excuse what had happened. He said it happened once, on a full moon, at some party Steve had dragged him to... I ... He said he was sorry, that he never meant to hurt me" Sabrina said, and Stiles studied her face, trying to understand where she was going with this.

"Okay... So, you two patched things up?" Stiles asked, and was extremely confused when she suddenly began to cry again.

"We declared a temporary truce, at least until you woke up. Then on the third day of your coma, we were tasked with getting coffee, and it was going fine. But... The girl behind the counter was flirting with him, and I... Overreacted. Its just... I heard him and Amber were talking again, and they might be together again, and then David was flirting back... I lost it" Sabrina admitted, and Stiles winced.

Amber had been David's girlfriend when Stiles first came to the school, but they had broken up only a week into Stiles tutoring him. As far as Stiles knew, there had been no love lost between them, and David hadn't seen too broken up about the split.

"Sabrina, you should know better than to listen to rumors" Stiles sighed in exasperation, and she blushed bright red.

"I know. We left, and sat in the car for nearly two hours arguing and talking through everything. We agreed that we would have to learn how to get along" Sabrina said, and Stiles studied her face.

"Okay. And you guys hashed things out? There will be no more tension?" Stiles asked warily, and Sabrina fiddled with her hands.

"I'm... I'm possessive, jealous, and temperamental... I think I'll always have issues watching David be with other people. I know things are over between us, and I don't want him to be miserable, but its hard. I really loved him, and... I don't think I ever moved on" Sabrina admitted, and Stiles twined their fingers together and gentle squeezed her hand.

"Maybe… Things aren't as final between you two as you would like to think. You both loved each other deeply, and David has thrown himself from person to person for months since your breakup, and you haven't let yourself open up to someone like that since him" Stiles said, and Sabrina's jaw clenched, and she pulled her hand back.

"No. I don't... I don't think I can ever trust that he wouldn't cheat on me again. I mean, how could anyone just... I didn't want to be one of those girls, Stiles" Sabrina said, burying her face in her palms, her shoulders shaking, and Stiles set a calming hand on his shoulder.

"So, I think I'm missing something" Stiles declared, and she looked up at him, wiping her tears in embarrassment.

"Yeah... The day before you woke up, I just... I don't know what I was thinking, Stiles. We were alone in the house, and I... I totally came onto him, and we... We had sex" Sabrina whispered, and Stiles felt every muscle in his body freeze up.

 _Haven't you noticed since losing your virginity you've become much more appealing?_

 _Your powers are barely emerging._

 _I'll look into it, but these are some old genes._

 _I don't know what I was thinking._

Oh shit.

* * *

Stiles was an hour early to his shift on Sunday, and instantly Louise was suspicious.

"What did you do?" Louise demanded, a hand on her hip as she watched Stiles like a hawk, tracking his movements as he scanned the folklore shelves.

"Why do you always assume I did something? Why can't I just be curious, I could have a small question that I hadn't wanted to bother you with" Stiles said defensively, setting his own hands on his hips, and Louise sighed in frustration.

"Stiles" She growled, and Stiles threw his hands up in surrender.

"Okay! Okay, fine, I was looking up long distance siren genes " Stiles admitted, much to her surprise.

"Really? I thought we agreed you probably didn't inherit much" Louise frowned, and Stiles couldn't quite meet her eyes as he squirmed in discomfort.

"While I was in my coma, I had a sex dream, and when I woke up... Well," Stiles pulled the hem of his shirt up, revealing dark love bites on his hips and stomach, and Louise's jaw dropped "And Sabrina told me she had sex with David, even though she hadn't been planning on it" Stiles admitted, and Louise pressed a hand to her forehead in frustration.

"Oh my god, Sirens can affect werewolves, Stiles, and only incubus can dreamwalk" Louise groaned, looking frustrated with herself for not seeing something she had obviously just realized.

"Incubus? But I thought I was part Siren?" Stiles frowned, and Louise plopped them both down on the couch, settling into her lecture mode.

"You must have incubus blood on your mothers side, which would react with your dads siren blood, and give you hybrid powers. I need you to tell me exactly what happened" Louise demanded, and Stiles face burned in embarrassment, but he started talking.

About halfway through his explanation, Louise started riffling through books behind the counter, until she found the book she was looking for.

"Alright, if someone has creature blood in their bloodline, its possible for them to gain what we call Creature Traits. Most the time, these fade after a few genrations, but if two similar creature genes pop up in the same bloodline, they become hybrid Creature Traits. You have Siren blood on our dads side, which gives you an allure, the ability to compel people who are attracted to you" Louise explained as she flipped through the book, and Stiles looked over when she found the right page.

The book was about common Creature Traits from demon blood, and she had found an entry on incubus.

"If an incubus is injured, and they cant feed in order to heal, they fall into a coma, where they then dream walk into a lovers unconscious. Some steamy sex dreams later, the incubus wakes up when their body doesn't need any more. While a incubus is doing this, they give off pheromones that encourage people around them to have sex" Louise explained, and Stiles froze, horrified as he looked at the next sentence after the explanation.

"Humans wont remember an incubus' appearance, but most supernatural creatures will, and will have retained any marks received during the act... Louise... My ex was a werewolf" Stiles choked out, and Louise winced sympathetically.

"You must have imprinted on Derek when you had sex, so whenever your injured, you'll be sent back to Derek... Who has likely figured out what happened" Louise explained, and Stiles groaned into his arms.

"So, I just mind sexed my ex, who's going to remember this, I accidentally compelled two of my best friends to have sex, and there's no way to prevent from repeating this experience" Stiles stated, and Louise rolled her eyes.

"You didn't compel them to have sex, Stiles. Sirens can only compel people that are attracted to them, they can multiply that attraction, but they cant create it. And, an incubus can only influence people who are attracted to each other. Sabrina and David wanted to have sex, you didn't make them, and they'll have to deal with that on their own" Louise said, nudging him comfortingly, and Stiles gripped his hair in frustration.

"What the hell do I do?" Stiles asked her, and she shrugged.

"The same things you've been doing: you learn how to control these powers, and keep going on with your life" Louise said, leaving the book with him as she wandered off to help a customer.

Fuck my life, Stiles thought miserably to himself.

* * *

Stiles spent most of his shift, when not occupied with customers, working on his mothers side of the family tree. He had reached back about six generations when he discovered an Aliana Jones, who's name came up crimson red, the color of a succubus.

So, his incubus heritage was much more recent, about mid 1800's, than the siren heritage, which had shown up in the 1500's. That would explain why his incubus side was stronger, but as far as he could tell, an incubus wouldn't be a strong enough demon to make him a spark.

Stiles was busy researching hybrid Creature Traits when suddenly a wave of magic filled the room as the customer Louise was helping turned red in anger.

Stiles didn't even realize his eyes were glowing silver as he glared at the witch, not until the witch stumbled back out of the store, and Louise was gaping at him in shock.

"What the hell? How did I go all this time with never seeing your eyes?" She demanded, and Stiles frowned at her in confusion.

"Well, they only show up when I purposely flare them, when I first get my tattoos, when I'm angry, or working complex magic" Stiles explained, and Louise looked like Stiles had hit her with an eggplant and declared himself king of turnips.

"Oh my god, I never explained the Emrys Scale to you?" Louise groaned, and Stiles raised an dry eyebrow at her.

"The pen said we're both purple" Stiles claimed, and she gave him an unimpressed look.

"And werewolves are beta yellow, and that doesn't change if your talking about an Alpha. The pen wouldn't have been able to pick it up, but your magic is much stronger than anyone thought" Louise explained, and Stiles flushed, but set his research aside as Louise launched into another lecture.

"The Emrys Scale? Emrys is another of Merlin's names, right? You never did answer me when I asked if he was real" Stiles pointed out, and she gave him an exaggerated eyeroll.

"The Emrys Scale is used to measure the potency of a persons magic, though every magic user can use raw magic to flash their eyes. Its kind of like the magical equivalent of a werewolf growling, its a way of showing how strong you are" Louise explained, plopping down side him on the couch once more.

"So, what's the scale? And why do magic users come up as purple?" Stiles asked, and Louise waved a hand, purple lights twinkling, sending a wash of color around them, and then creating the outline of a pyramid hovering between us.

"Okay, so there are four sections in the pyramid. At the bottom is the magical null and weak magic users. Wiccans, druids, and humans, or, grey, brown, and black. They require magical anchors, and have limited offensive capabilities. In the next section, are those who were born with magic, and use anchors with the more advanced magic, but have a decent amount of magic by themselves. Fae, warlocks, or wizards, or, green, blue, and purple. The third section are also born into their power, and they don't need anchors, except for the really advanced magics. Sorcerers, witches, and demons, or, orange, yellow, and red. And lastly, we have the top sections, who only use anchors to direct their raw power for more delicate spell work, or the really advanced rituals. We call these people Mages, and they can be bronze, silver, or gold" Louise explained, showing him the colorful pyramid, and Stiles hummed thoughtfully, waving a finger through the projection.

"So, I'm a Mage? I thought I was a Spark?" Stiles asked, and Louise sighed in exasperation.

"You are. A Spark is someone who inherits magic from a distant relative, so, your parents and grandparents aren't magical, but somewhere along your mothers line there was probably a demon or a mage, and they reacted with your dads ancestors to create you" Louise explained, and Stiles winced sharply, memories of a once beautiful face twisted in fear and rage, accusing him of being a demon, but Louise just took his hands in hers.

"Not all demons are evil, Stiles. Banshee's, Hellhounds, Kitsune and Vampires are all lesser demons. Kitsune lines are actually created when a demon and a fae get friendly, but still. Part demon" Louise shrugged, and Stiles smiled at her, shaking off the memory.

"Alright, so, what color are your eyes? Yellow" Stiles asked, and she smiled mischievously, and closed her eyes as she summoned her magic.

"Most supernatural's or hunters will call you a witch, even though your a mage, and the line is even sketchier when your a hybrid. My mother was a witch, and my dad was a demon" Louise revealed, opening her eyes, which were the most interesting thing Stiles had ever seen. Her eyes glowed yellow on the outside, which faded into orange as the red around her pupil mixed with the yellow.

Her eyes looked like fire, Stiles observed, and they glowed with power.

"Do you have any Creature Traits?" Stiles asked curiously, and she grinned at him.

"Oh, yeah, I do" Louise winked at him, then jumped from her chair to go help another customer, leaving Stiles to his curiosity.

* * *

With class starting in two days, Stiles was suddenly grateful that his grandparents had insisted on getting his uniforms fitted earlier in the summer, and his books had already been bought. All he'd had left to do was get his art supplies, since he was running low, and set up another auction for his new painting.

Since taking Sam's advice, and attempting to expand his skill set, he had created numerous pieces, the more normal ones, like the nature pieces, or historical landmarks, sold for a couple hundred each time, but Stiles was really known for creating folklore and mythology pieces. From horrible, ugly monsters, to soft, beautiful creatures, and everything in between. Nothing sold more than the pieces that came from a place of sorrow or pain, but each piece normally brought in a couple grand, and he could create more for those ones at once.

This time, Stiles had created four squares seeming to blend together seamlessly, the images depicting a mermaid. The top left, a quick glance at a silhouette beneath the waves, light from the full moon seemed to bounce off her tail, making the water above her shine. The top right, each royal blue scale shining, as she explored a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. The bottom left, was more detailed image of mermaid, long dark hair floating around her, as she floated on top of the water, her arms spread out, her fingers skimming the water. The bottom right image, the mermaid had pulled herself up onto a rocky beach, rocks stuck to her damp skin, and shining like crystals, her tail was gone, as she had shifted back, completely naked, with only her position, and her long hair keeping her body disguised.

Unlike other naked pieces, her nudity wasn't meant to make her appear sexy and mysterious, but instead it was a symbol of vulnerability and innocence.

Stiles kind of wanted to keep the piece for himself, but he had no where to hang it in his apartment, all his walls were occupied by other sketches, paintings, or drawings.

With a disappointed sigh, Stiles handed the piece off to the courier, and closed his door, heading back to his supplies, where he had a half finished piece still waiting for him. This one he wouldn't be selling, it would be joining the others in the storage unit he had purchased for the pieces that had felt too personal to sell.

He's sure Chris had told the others about his work, but it didn't feel right to expose the Pack's dirty secrets. Isaac's abuse, Lydia's loneliness, Erica's illness, Jackson's insecurity, and the Hale fire... So many other tender moments that Stiles had no right to sell for a profit, but he also couldn't bring himself to destroy.

This painting would join the others that he would never give away, but the one that was coming after that would be a gift for Peter.

The first was of the Hale House, a ghost reflection of that burnt out husk standing in the center of the new, rebuilt pack house. The only hint to what house it was being the black triskelion painted on the door, the mark almost entirely concealed.

For the second painting, Stiles created a dark forest, with the full moon and stars being the only lighting the forest had to offer. The forest looked mostly deserted, there was no trails or roads, only a patch of tombstones. Ten tombstones, to be exact, for the ten Hale's killed in the fire. Originally, it was thought to be eleven, but since Cora was alive, that wasn't accurate. Talia Hale had been Derek's mother, and the Alpha, with her human husband, James, she raised five children. The eldest, Philip, and the youngest, Thea, had been born human, while Laura, Derek, and Cora had been wolves. Talia's parents, Richard and Marie, had been visiting for the week, along with Talia's sister, Phoebe, and her husband, Mark, had brought their two daughters, Ivy and Laurel.

And in front of the tombs, were five wolves pressed together, Peter, Malia, Derek, Cora and Laura, their heads hung low with grief, and behind them, were ten more wolves. Jackson, Danny, Ethan, Aidan, Lydia, Scott, Alison, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd. Even if Danny, Lydia and Allison weren't actually werewolves, they were still Pack.

Each of the wolves just screamed who was who, even if some of them seem similar, Stiles could instantly see who was who. It helped that he had woven as much magic into the paint as he could, so it almost seemed to glow with power.

A part of Stiles looked at the image, and felt a deep desire to draw himself as a wolf, curled up on the space underneath Derek, but he resisted, leaving the space empty, and pulled his hands back before he tried to change it.

Stiles wouldn't make a good wolf, anyway, it just wasn't him.

Stiles would have the second piece packaged and sent to Peter's PO box, he wouldn't leave a note, he wouldn't have to. Stiles didn't know if Peter had found out about his art, but he would know it was from Stiles all the same, and he wouldn't even say anything.

If there was any pictures, Stiles would have drawn the lost Hale's as humans, but Stiles didn't remember them well enough to do that, so wolves it was. Of course, the image would make no sense to anyone not in the know, so Peter probably shouldn't hang it in the entrée hall of the new Pack house, but it was a beautiful piece.

He could have saved it for Christmas, but with the fire anniversary coming up in a month, Stiles got the feeling he would appreciate it more then.

Hopefully, they could even avoid the uncomfortable conversation about feelings, and his place in the Pack.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's.

* * *

After Peter killed Laura, there had always been this tension between the two of them, even when Peter would be helping them, Derek had always kept his guard up around his uncle. When Stiles turned the Surviving Hale count from two people, to five, Derek hadn't been sure how this was going impact his relationship with Peter. He'd prepared himself for Peter to just up and leave, or turn crazy and try to kill Laura again, he'd even prepared himself for Peter completely ignoring the situation.

What he hadn't been ready for was the look of agonized guilt that crossed Peter's face the first time Peter saw Laura. He tried to cover it up, but wasn't particularly successful, and most of his pack quietly slipped out of the room, with only Peter, Laura and Derek remaining.

"Laura... I wasn't quite sure that I believed, but... You smell like Laura" Peter whispered, and Laura gave him a sharp assessing look, before all the tension in her drained away.

"I'm sorry" Laura said, shocking both the Hale men, but she wasn't angry, Derek could only smell the bitter scent of remorse coming from her, and maybe a hint of longing.

"You're sorry?" Peter gaped, and Derek almost smiled, it wasn't often that anyone could take Peter off guard like this.

"I was your Alpha, Peter, it was my responsibility to look after you. You had lost everyone, you were hurt, and I left you alone" Laura whispered, tears glistening in her eyes, and Peter winced, but didn't say anything for a long while.

"You lost everything too, you thought I wouldn't get better, and you were protecting the last family you had left" Peter said, looking as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and Derek could smell his relief and forgiveness... And Stiles...

Logically, Derek knew that Stiles would have had to be with Peter, he'd used Peter's phone to talk to him, but smelling Stiles on Peter... It made it real... Peter knew where Stiles was... he had seen him... talked to him... touched him...

"I'm sorry I couldn't be the Alpha you deserved, but maybe I can be a better niece" Laura said, holding out her arms, and Peter didn't hesitate to wrap her in a tight hug.

"Derek?" Isaac called, his voice wavering weakly, and Derek's vision went red around the edges as he turned to his beta, stepping closer to assess his injuries. Isaac let him hover, with only mild sass, which showed Derek how much the curly haired boy was craving his Alpha's affection.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, and Isaac blinked tears out of his eyes as he buried his face in Derek's neck.

"You came" Isaac stated, his fear tasted bitter in the back of Derek's throat, but his affection was sweet and tangy.

"I'm your Alpha, of course I came after you" Derek stated, rolling his eyes, and noticed Jackson standing on the edges of the room, looking at them anxiously, with Ethan and Aidan hovering around him uncertainly.

Taking a deep breath, Derek felt for his pack bonds, and channeled acceptance through the three weaker bonds, and saw their faces flush lightly. They drifted a bit closer towards the pack, and Erica and Boyd pulled the twins over, Erica demanding they tell her everything they could about Kali and Deucalion. Meanwhile, Scott and Cora cornered Jackson, yanking him onto one of the couches between them.

Laura and Peter wandered over, and most of the wolves noses flared when Peter passed, but no one said a thing, and everyone settled into the squished living room. Derek had only bought the loft recently, he'd only done it to give the betas a more stable environment, and he didn't have much furniture. One couch and two chairs, which meant most of the Pack was left without a seat, and this was without Danny, Lydia or Allison, who would likely be joining them soon.

And Stiles, Derek's wolf whispered, but Derek shoved that thought down immediately.

Stiles had asked Derek to give him space, and so that's what Derek was going to do. When Stiles came back, he would always have a place within the pack, but he would come back when he was ready, and not a moment sooner.

"So, what do you guys think of a new Pack house?" Derek asked casually, and enjoyed the way everyone jumped in surprise.

* * *

Derek had no idea so much planning went into building a new Pack house, and for the first time, Derek was immensely grateful that when Lydia had brought Peter back, this time he was more like the Uncle Peter from before the fire. Shameless, manipulative, and ruthless, but immensely loyal, fiercely protective, intelligent and understanding. He had never been completely sane, he wasn't gentle or soft-spoken, but he was Pack, and, since he didn't have the power to ground them, Derek and his siblings would normally go to Peter first for advice.

There were so many details they had to figure out before they could even start designing what the house would look like, and it took three weeks of research before they could even start.

First, Peter contacted an old flame, a witch named Regina, who came out and purified the preserve. She stayed for an extra week in a local motel, and constructed their base wards, free of charge.

Peter had explained that they would only be the basic defensive wards, they could turn way trespassing humans, and some weaker supernatural creatures, but the more aggressive wards couldn't be sustained by magically null. The wards could only be manipulated and monitored by the Emissary or, in emergency situations, the Alpha. Since Derek in no way trusted Deaton, Derek would have to withstand the power of the wards indefinitely, and overexposure to too much magic could kill him.

That wasn't to say the wards Regina set up were useless, she had tied as much magic into the wards that she could to make a solid base for when they get an emissary. That way, the ground work would already be in place for whatever direction they would take the offensive wards.

Second, they had to select a location for where they would build the new Pack House. Peter had disappeared in the middle of Regina's stay, and reappeared a few days later with a detailed map of the ley lines on their territory. He had offered Derek the choice of the five strongest points on the map, which when tied into the wards would make the wards around the house stronger than anywhere else in their territory.

Derek went to assess each spot, and crossed three of them off the list immediately. One had jagged rocky terrain that wouldn't go over well with the Pack's human members, and two others were too far away to commute on a regular basis. With two options remaining, he let the Pack go see the sites and decided they would take a vote during the next Pack meeting. The first option, was twenty minutes from town, but was in the middle of no where, with no existing roads. The second option, was forty minutes from town, in a huge clearing, it was only a few minutes walk from the lake Derek used to go to as a kid. To his surprise, the pack chose the second option.

Third, they had to work on the permits they would need to start building. This was the first moment they were confronted with the negative aspects of Stiles resurrecting the dead: Paperwork. Clearing up Cora and Malia's paperwork was easier, they had been presumed dead, but no body was found. They gave a statement, signed some papers, and were successfully dealt with. Laura's situation was more complex. The town had DNA evidence stating it had been Laura, they had her body in a grave, and Derek had identified his sister.

Suffice to say, the town officials were extremely confused, but couldn't deny that Laura was very much alive.

And fourth, after two weeks, all the permits had been filed, and Derek started to get in touch with his family's head accountant, who was helping him sort through his family's affairs, which had been left to rot for the past six years. He'd always known his family was wealthy, but it wasn't until he was talking through the numbers with Mr. Xavier, Peter, and Laura, that he truly understood the scope of that wealth. Needless to say, the construction costs wouldn't even put a dent in his trust fund, let alone the family inheritance.

Lastly, they all sat down, and discussed what each of them wanted the Pack house to have.

The requests were outrageous at first, and trying to negotiate was a daunting task. Derek was about ready to just hire a design team to do it for him, but managed to cling to his patience, and ordered them all to write a list of five things they wanted most, and he would look into it.

Suddenly grateful for choosing to go into construction, instead of law like Laura, he was the only one in the pack who knew what they were doing. He hired a supernatural construction team to help him with most of the build, they would be able to complete the house five times as fast as a human construction team, and would use more durable supplies.

Three weeks after deciding to build a new Pack house, Derek began creating blueprints, experimenting with different layouts, designs, and features. By the end of the week, he had a bunch of disjointed ideas of what he wanted the house to look like. He knew what styles he liked, but he had no idea what the house would look like.

That was when Peter slipped him a file thick with Stiles' designs, from simple brick, to smooth stones, to rustic logs, he'd created everything from simplistic dens to extravagant manors, but even the simplest of designs were beautiful and elegant. Derek chose a couple of his favorites, and put the rest away in the bottom drawer of his desk, leaning back in his chair as he studied the designs he had chosen, finding bits of each house that he enjoyed.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Despite all the work they had put into building a Pack House where everyone could have a place, being Pack wasn't about the upgraded digs.

Building a pack out of hormonal teenagers was never going to be easy, Derek had known this when he'd bitten Isaac, Erica and Boyd, but he'd never imagined how fast his pack would swell. His sisters, Peter, Malia, Scott, the twins, Danny, Lydia, Allison... Everyone had very different temperaments, personalities, and habits. Rustic and minimalistic, extravagant and flashy, comfortable and soft, sharp and strategic...

He'd known it wouldn't be easy, but he'd never imagined how much effort went into keeping your temper to mediate a Pack.

"I don't know how mom did it" Derek growled as he stormed into the loft, Laura and Cora were curled up on the couch, Peter was cooking something that smelt rich and creamy.

"She didn't" Peter stated as he walked out, and the three of us looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? Mom was always breaking up fights between us" Laura said, and Peter rolled his eyes.

"The major fights, like the great Lipstick Fiasco of 2001, were broken up by Talia showing her dominance, but most of the disagreements in the house were calmed by James. Talia had many talents, but keeping her temper was not one of them" Peter said, and Derek slumped into the armchair, his head tilted back.

"So, what do I do?" Derek complained, and Laura nudged his leg teasingly.

"Well, remember that summer when Peter had just broken up with that pixie? Dad had to take over treaty negotiations, and we were all in a bad mood because we barely saw him that summer" Laura said, and Peter grimaced painfully.

"Ah, yes, that was not a pleasant summer. I believe your mother was ready to just let you have at it, but your father always talked her out of it" Peter said, and Derek sat up sharply.

"That's it" Derek grinned, and all three of his family members looked at him in confusion.

"What? Your not going to do anything?" Laura frowned, and Derek shook his head.

"No, I'm going to give them an outlet for their anger" Derek said, pulling out his phone, he texted Lydia to get everyone to the construction site.

The house was still in the early stages, they were digging out the ground, smoothing over the terrain, and chopping down some trees, they wouldn't start the real construction for two more days.

It was a perfect time to show them what it really meant to fight among wolves.

* * *

"What are we doing here? Do you know what these roads do to my tires?" Jackson complained as they walked over to the Hale's of the Pack, and Derek didn't say anything as the others wandered over.

"What's wrong? Is it Kali and Deucalion?" Scott asked, his mouth tight, and Derek set his hands on his hips.

"Not directly. What do you think is going to happen if Deucalion were to walk in, and instead of being attacked by a Pack of werewolves, he was swarmed by a crowd of puppies, pushing and shoving over one another in order to get their own hit in?" Derek asked, and all the werewolves scowled at being called puppies.

"We can fight" Ethan insisted, pressed against Jackson's side, and Derek starred him down.

"No. You know how to fight with Aidan, but you have no idea what it means to fight in a Pack that you trust with your life. I'll split you into two teams, and each team will try to attack me, we'll start with Scott, Malia, Jackson, and the twins" Derek stated, and they exchanged a confused look, but they shifted to their beta shift, and lunged towards Derek at the same time.

Jackson pushed Scott out of his way so he could try to claw at Derek's chest, and Derek caught Jackson's arm, throwing him aside, grabbing a distracted Ethan by the neck, and threw him into his twin, and turned, catching Scott's foot, throwing him into a tree, and kicked Malia in the stomach, send her flying.

The fight had lasted less than a minute.

"Alright. Now you guys" Derek looked at Erica, Isaac, and Boyd, and they approached Derek more cautiously, Boyd attacked in the center, he was the strongest and could cause more blunt force damage, while Erica and Isaac circled them. Derek blocked Boyd's strikes, but Boyd kept enough distance that he didn't go down immediately. Derek swept Boyd aside, and the other two moved quickly in the moment Derek only had one leg on the ground. Erica, as the lighter of the two, leapt up, wrapping her legs around Derek's neck, obscuring his vision, and Isaac tackled his legs, toppling him over.

Their victory was short lived, as Derek twisted, throwing Erica into a tree, and kicking Isaac away, but they had managed to pin Derek for a few seconds, and the fight had lasted almost five minutes.

"Okay. So, we need to work together" Scott crossed his arms unhappily, and Derek straightened to his feet.

"This isn't just about strategy, being a Pack is more than just strength in numbers. I know most of you are bitten, or have never been in a good pack, but this is different" Derek stated, and Scott and Jackson exchanged unhappy scowls, but eventually Jackson held one hand out for a handshake, and Scott's eyes softened as he shook the offered hand.

"I'm sorry I was such an asshole" Jackson admitted, and Scott smiled.

"I'm sorry I never gave you a chance, its just... Stiles hated you, and he was my only friend" Scott said, and Jackson sighed in exasperation.

"Alright. Anyone else?" Jackson asked the Pack, and Allison hesitantly stepped forwards, Lydia and Danny hovering behind her, as she looked Derek in the eyes. If she were a wolf, Derek might have felt compelled to assert his dominance, but because she was human his wolf only bristled irritably under his skin.

"I'm sorry about... Kate. I know welcoming an Argent in your Pack can't be easy, but I appreciate you giving me a chance" Allison said, and Derek struggled to say anything back for a few moments.

"Allison, you are not your aunt. I don't completely trust you, but I'm willing to try, if you are" Derek finally said, and Allison relaxed, and Aidan looked over at Isaac and Cora.

"Sorry I wasn't any help when you were taken by the Alpha's" Aidan said, looking at his twin, who also gave them a remorseful look.

"Yeah, we never wanted to hurt anyone, we just... We wanted to be the strong ones" Ethan admitted, and Jackson gripped his mates hand comfortingly.

"Sorry for getting you arrested" Scott told Derek, and Derek laughed, the others soon following.

"Somehow, I don't think that was your doing" Derek grinned, a softer side to him shining through it, drawing his Pack closer.

"Lets try this again" Scott said, looking at his Packmates, and feeling a warmth settled into the void he had been feeling ever since Stiles had left.

* * *

Six weeks since Stiles had left, the betas had finished school for the year, and life had begun to settle into a routine.

The Pack House was under construction, it was expected to be completed between late August and early September, and until then the Pack was having weekly Pack Nights at the Loft. They had learnt each others quirks, habits and preferences, and had grown closer as a Pack. Every time he closed his eyes, Derek could feel the Pack Bonds between him and each of his Pack members grow stronger and stronger.

That doesn't mean there weren't arguments, that they didn't get on each others nerves, but they were beginning to trust each other. They trained together three times a week, every night someone ran a patrol, and they were alternating who cooked.

Derek and Laura still couldn't cook worth a damn, Cora could hunt, and cook the basics, but nothing special. Peter was good, but he demanded that others also take part, so Derek asked the Pack, and found Boyd was used to cooking for younger siblings, so his culinary options was limited to French fries and chicken nuggets, Isaac could make a killer post hangover breakfast, and Erica knew the basics. Unsurprisingly, Jackson, Lydia, Danny and Scott couldn't cook pasta, and the twins were restricted to barbeque.

"God, I miss Stiles. Claudia loved to cook, and taught Stiles how to cook when he was young, then after she passed away, he leant quick that his dad couldn't be trusted in a kitchen" Scott smiled ruefully, and Derek felt his wolf whine inside his head for their mate.

I miss him too, Scott, Derek thought forlornly, and turned back to cutting up carrots.

* * *

It was the first week of August when Deucalion and Kali eventually made their first move since Derek recovered his Pack from the Vault.

They had attacked Lydia on her way towards the loft for Pack Night, and managed to catch her off guard. She was walking up the street because the buildings parking lot was closed for construction, and the emergency gun Chris Argent had given her was in her glove box.

In that moment, when Lydia looked up from her phone and suddenly realized who was standing six feet in front of her, Lydia knew that this was it. She was going to die, because she was a werewolf, she didn't have super strength, she couldn't heal from fatal injures, and she wasn't a hunter, she had no special training or weapons.

She was going to die because she was human.

Their taunting words became distorted in her mind, and she knew it was useless. She was too far away from the Pack to get to her in time, even if she screamed as loud as she could, they might not even hear her, and if she was going to die, she didn't want to give them the pleasure of seeing her fear.

Her heart pounded, her mind went blank, and, without realizing it, she opened her mouth, and she _screamed_.

From three blocks away, Derek heard Lydia's scream as if she were right beside him, but the scream wasn't the only warning Derek got, and he wasn't the only one to sense that something was wrong with their resident genius.

Aidan had been joking with Erica and Isaac when suddenly Derek felt Lydia's Pack Bond rattle with _Danger, Danger, Help Me, Help Me, Don't Want to Die_ , and the force of it sent shock waves through Aidan's bond. Derek saw Aidan stiffen, a hand pressed to his chest in agony, and all the others sat up in alarm when they heard the scream.

Derek wasn't sure he'd ever seen Aidan move so fast as when he leapt from the window, jumping down the fire escape in three easy leaps, and took off running down the street. The rest of the Pack weren't far behind him, the werewolves bolting into action, while the humans prepared for the showdown.

Derek got there as Aidan was standing between a shaken Kali and bewildered Lydia, but even shaken, Kali was a force to be reckoned as she rained hell down on Aidan, who was barely holding his own against the furious Alpha. It only took Derek a few seconds before he had shifted, his bones snapping, fur growing, and suddenly he was a 300 lbs wolf. Growls and snarls filling the street, and the Pack divided, half of them moving to help Aidan with Kali, while the other half stood by Derek.

"You've inherited Talia's little trick" Deucalion appeared, standing between Derek and Kali, and Derek knew he wasn't as strong as Deucalion, that Deucalion had killed hundreds of werewolves, many of them Alpha's, with nothing to show for it, but Derek was not going to let this monster hurt his Pack. After everything they had been through, they finally had a chance at being a real Pack, and he was not going to let this bastard ruin that.

Derek growled lowly towards his betas, and Scott, Malia, and Boyd began to move an injured Lydia away from the fight, a claw mark bleeding sluggishly on her stomach, while Erica, Isaac, Jackson, Ethan and Aidan moved to circle Kali, the five of them dancing around the Alpha, trading blows and moving completely in sync.

Peter, Laura and Cora stood behind Derek, their fangs flashing, and they gave Deucalion a deadly smirk before joining Derek in their wolf forms.

"So its hereditary" Deucalion grinned, looking at Laura and Cora predatorially, and Derek growled, moving towards the Alpha. The four of them circled the man, who seemed completely unconcerned with the deadly beasts eyeing him hungrily.

"Whoa, I don't suppose we can learn that?" Scott grunted as he stumbled back a step, and Malia yowled, her fangs bared as she leapt forewords, slamming her hands against Kali's shoulders, dislocating both her shoulders, and the five of them quickly swung out of the way as Kali howled angrily.

Momentarily defenseless, they didn't take the very obvious advantage, instead Malia yowled again, and the five of them watched as three sleek arrows buried themselves in Kali's chest.

"Such a shame" Deucalion sighed, not entirely bothered by Kali's demise, and suddenly he lashed out, taking a bloody chunk out of Peter's side, and Derek and Laura lunged forwards, claws sinking past skin and muscle to pierce the heart. Deucalion fought viciously, biting and clawing, but Derek didn't let go until Deucalion's body jerked in surprise, and then slowly went limp.

Derek tore through Deucalion's chest, blood coating his fur, and deep cuts stinging in the night air, only to throw forth his prize: a heart.

"Peter!" Malia gasped, darting towards her biological fathers fallen form, and Derek shuddered as he let the change wash over him, his sisters following behind him.

"What do we do?" Malia asked, her hands smoothing down Peter's body as Derek and his sisters pulled on some spare clothes Allison chucked at them as she strode over.

"Can you make him shift back?" Allison asked, and Derek crouched down, stern red eyes looking into pained blue ones, and Peter shuddered as he let the change settle over him.

Naked and covered in blood, it was easier to see how serious the wound was when Allison examined the giant gash on his stomach, broken ribs caving in, and guts visible.

"Call Regina. Get Natasha" Peter choked out, and Allison grabbed her phone, already dialing the witch as the twins picked up the wolf, and the Pack began to move back towards the Loft.

Allison threw a blanket over Peter to keep from alarming any potential onlookers, and by the time they got there, Melissa was waiting with her emergency medical kit.

"If I'm going to be patching you guys up on the regular, I'm going to need better equipment in the future" Melissa complained, but began to work on cleaning up Peter as best that she could.

"Natasha said she'll be here in less than an hour, you just have to keep him alive until then" Allison called, and Melissa scowled, but turned back to her patient with determination.

"Alright, Peter, show me that Hale stubbornness, because I am not going to explain to that boy why he's lost another family member" Melissa hissed at Peter, and he gave her a weak smile.

"Yes, ma'am" Peter winced, and the rest of the Pack settled in for a long night.

"I'll start the coffee" Isaac sighed, Danny was hovering worriedly over his mates minor scuffles, and Aidan was starring at Lydia, completely enchanted, as she argued with Erica about something.

"I'll help you" Cora groaned, rubbing her hip tenderly, and Isaac looked hesitant for a second before pressing a gentle hand to her arm to drain her pain.

"Thank you" Cora whispered, a tension settling between them, which Isaac broke first, his cheeks flushing as he hurried towards the kitchen, and Cora smirked as she looked at his back, and then lower her eye to the betas firm ass.

"Cora" Derek scowled, and Cora rolled her eyes at her brother.

"Oh, mind your own business, Derek" Cora punched her brother in the arm as she followed Isaac into the kitchen.

When Cora and Isaac returned, both sported flushed cheeks and swollen lips, and carried a platter with several coffee cups, and everyone grabbed their mug, and moved to settle around the couch. Every breath Derek took, he could feel the Pack Bonds between them, stable and strong, and somehow he knew that despite not being a Pack long, they would be okay.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Okay, so it has been a minute and a half since I've posted. I'm sorry it took me so long, I know I said I had a chapter coming soon, but I hit a writers block about halfway through this chapter. Also, I was in the middle of my senior year of high school. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think, and sorry it took me so long to update.

AN: I do not own Teen Wolf, I only created the plot and OC's

* * *

Natasha arrived forty five minutes after being called. She was a beautiful Vietnamese woman, no older than twenty five, she had a slender build, tanned skin and long dark hair, and she was barely a hundred pounds soaking wet. Derek would have completely dismissed her as a threat if it weren't for her clothes. She was dressed in a sleeveless tunic, skintight leather pants, and knee high boots, but it wasn't the clothes themselves that set Derek on edge, but the tattoos. Her arms were completely covered in swirling tattoos, which currently glowed varying shades of green, and made Derek's wolf pace uneasily. Natasha set her bag on the coffee table, her pace urgent, but relaxed as she began pulling out potions, amulets and jewels.

"This might sting" Natasha informed Peter, before pulling out a ruby the size of an apple, it's surface carved with the same intricate symbols she had tattooed on her arms, out of her seemingly endless bag.

Natasha held the jewel over Peter's body, letting it go when the runes began to glow a harsh green, and the jewel stayed floating above Peter's body, a chord of green magic connecting the two. The moment the magic touched Peter, he let out a screech of pain as his back arched, his ribs popping erratically until they straightened. With a wave of her hand, the blood and loose tissue vanished from Peter's skin, revealing the damage she had to work with.

"Drink" Natasha practically forced a neon green potion down his throat, and they all watched as it traced its way through his digestive system, stopping at the damaged areas. Natasha's eyes had become a warm green, she was muttering in a language Derek didn't understand, but he could feel the emense power flooding the room.

Bit by bit, Natasha mended Peter's intestines back together, watching as the green potion continued its path, only to evaporate once it was finished.

She poured several potions down Peter's throat, before waving her hand under the floating ruby, and the magic faded abruptly, and she caught the gem as it fell. Pulsing with magic, everyone was completely absorbed in fascination as Natasha ran her hand down Peter's chest, new skin forming over repaired insides. The magic faded and then Peter exhaled sharply, his eyelids flickering, but he didn't wake up as Natasha straightened, her magic fading, and revealing Peter completely in tact, not even a scar left behind.

Pouring three more potions down Peter's throat, Natasha suddenly slouched forewards, her nose trickling blood as her eyes faded to a warm hazel.

"He'll be fine. I'd prescribe him bedrest for at least three days, lots of fluids, and no stress. Myself, on the other hand, I could really use a cup of coffee before I head out" Natasha groaned, her skin had taken on a grey tint, and personally Derek thought she needed more than a cup of coffee.

Allison moved to help the witch to her feet, her grip steady as she led Natasha to the armchair, and immediately shoved a coffee cup into her hands.

"Thank you, Natasha, Peter wouldn't have survived without your help. You're welcome to rest here as long as you need, its the least we can do" Derek said, and Natasha gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you, but your pack member almost died, I'm sure you'll want to stay with him. I'll be fine in a minute, its just been a while since I've healed someone from an alpha attack" Natasha said, running a hand through her dark hair.

"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I cant promise I'll comply, but I'll do my best" Derek promised, and Natasha nodded over to Danny.

"If I need anything, I'll call your emissary" Natasha promised, and we all looked between her and Danny.

"What?" Ethan asked, looking at Danny in confusion, who appeared just as clueless.

"Are you saying Danny is a Spark?" Derek asked, and Natasha snorted, looking at them all in amusement.

"No, he's a warlock. Warlock blood isn't strong enough to make a Spark, I'd say one of his grandparents was a warlock, and it skipped a generation" Natasha said, and Danny's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Wait, can warlocks become emissary's?" Danny leant forewords, and Natasha shrugged.

"Sure, any magic user can become an emissary, but the stronger the emissary, the stronger the pack. A fae, warlock or wizard can control the wards, provided their link to the Pack is strong enough" Natasha informed, and Danny looked like he was ready to burst in excitement.

"Can you teach me?" Danny asked, and Natasha looked at him, her sharp eyes assessing him from head to toe.

"No, I'm sorry, but our attributes are too different. My attributes are protection and healing, growth and rebirth, potions and enchantments" Natasha explained, and Danny's face fell in disappointment.

"Oh, so what are my attributes?" Danny asked, and her eyes seemed to look deep into his soul.

"Your magic lies in fire and earth, deception and seduction, tongue and runes" Natasha explained, and everyone looked confused at that.

"What is tongue magic?" Danny asked, and both his mates smirked at him.

"Not whatever your thinking," she said ruefully, "it means you'll pick up languages quickly, and you'll be good at persuasion and hypnosis" Natasha explained, and everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.

"So, who can teach me?" Danny asked, and Natasha tilted her head in consideration.

"I know of a coven in San Francisco, one of their members, Regina, has two of the same attributes as you, deception and runes, I could ask her if she'd be willing to take you in, but she can only teach you the basics" Natasha warned, and Danny nodded in agreement.

"Maybe on weekends I could go up to visit her" Danny suggested, following the fae healer out of the loft, asking questions and exchanging phone numbers.

"Well, how long until Danny is trained enough to become our emissary?" Cora asked, and Laura shrugged.

"Depends on how fast he picks things up, and how often he gets lessons, it could be anywhere from six months to a year. Every case is different" Laura explained, and suddenly the weight of the last few hours hit everyone, and hugs were exchanged before everyone stumbled out of the loft and towards their cars.

"Good night, baby bro" Laura yawned before she and Cora stumbled upstairs to his bedroom, and Derek shifted to wolf form, and curled up in front of Peter's unconscious body, his body relaxing into a light but vigilant sleep.

* * *

It was only twelve weeks, just about three months, since Stiles had left, and it had only taken nine weeks of construction, but the Pack House was finished. It was the middle of August, the rest of the pack would be returning to school in two weeks, and all they had left to do was decorate and furnish their new home.

Naturally, Derek was the first one to see the completed results, but Derek had never really had an eye for aesthetics, that was always more Peter and Laura's department. And, of course, the two of them were so different, they had very different tastes, tastes that wouldn't mesh well with the rest of the Pack, and this was to be a home for everyone.

If Derek left the decorating up to them, he would come back to a blood bath, and nothing accomplished, and it would take months to finish what should only take a few weeks. So Derek pulled out Stiles sketches, he selected his favorite details from a few of them, and had a list of what had to go in, and what was never happening.

Laura and Peter weren't happy about the limits he had established, but they agreed, and the three of them were able to find a middle ground that the whole Pack could be happy with.

The rest of the Pack were forbidden to see the house until the finished product was done, which they weren't happy about, but they could see how important this was to Derek, so they stayed away. Besides Derek, Laura and Peter had the highest positions in the Pack hierarchy. Laura was his Second, she was teaching him all the lessons Talia never thought to impart on her second son, but Peter was their ambassador, he knew more about the supernatural and their politics than anyone else.

With the three of them working together, it only took them a week to design and complete a mixture of styles that would work for everyone. With the Pack beginning to get restless, they decided not to test their luck, and a little under two weeks since the construction was complete, they had finished putting the last touches on the house, and the three of them did one last walk through to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. When they were stood on the front porch, looking at the finished result, they exchanged satisfied smiles, and agreed that the rest of the Pack could come see it the next day.

* * *

The house couldn't be more different from the old Pack House, but in a way that made it even better, because this house wasn't haunted by old memories, it was a clean slate. Everything from the wide flagstone driveway, lit by antique lanterns, to the large oak porch, to the smooth grey stone, it was all better than he'd ever imagined.

A mix of Derek's blueprints, and Stiles designs, with flashes of the other members of the Pack... It was home.

The outside of the house was stunning, four stories tall, and made out of smooth light grey stone, with wooden accents, it had a large porch made out of sturdy looking oak, with two matching doors in the center, which opened to a spacious entrée, with a large spiral staircase, also made out of oak, and three archways leading to different directions of the house.

The archway to the left lead to a large living room, with three overstuffed couches, two loveseats, and an assortment of beanbags arranged in a U around the large 65' flat screen TV hung above a large electric fireplace. There were a variety of gaming systems and movies in the cabinet on both sides of the tv. There was a basket overflowing with fuzzy blankets in the corner of the room, and overstuffed pillows discarded on all the couches.

The archway to the left lead to a library/war room. One of the biggest rooms in the house, half the room was filled with books, every wall was covered in floor to ceiling shelves, and rows upon rows of bookcases took up half of the room. The books numbered in the thousands, covering a wide assortment of subjects, and composed of over two dozen languages. The other half of the room was partially taken up by a table big enough to seat the entire pack and then some, which was covered in an assortment of maps, books and paperwork. There were 'decorative' weapons hung on the walls, daggers, swords, axes, staffs, and shields.

There was a trap door camouflaged in the library, which had a steel staircase that went about twenty feet bellow the ground to the armory, and contained access to the underground tunnels that crisscrossed all across town. The armory had come courtesy of Chris Argent, apart of a peace treaty Derek had signed with him and Allison, so their collection ranged from swords to guns, with every possible variation in between. This was the one part of the house that no builder knew about, they had followed Derek's orders to leave his section of the house hollow, but didn't press for information.

Back up top, the archway behind the staircase lead to a split between the dinning room and kitchen. On the left was the dinning room, with a table big enough to comfortably seat over twenty people, and a rustic bronze chandelier hanging over the table. The dinning room was open to the kitchen and the living room, where soft brown carpets met smooth grey stone. On the right, was the kitchen, which was big, with lots of counter space, made out of the same oak that decorated the rest of the house, two industrial sized stoves, another rustic looking chandelier, a large pantry, and a pot rack hanging from the ceiling.

Between the kitchen and the dinning room was a door leading out to the back deck, which was twice as big as the front porch, and backed onto the forest.

Up the stairs, the second floor had been the subject of much debate, but in the end they had decided on four guest bedrooms, and two bathrooms to the left. The bedrooms were simple, each equipped with a queen sized bed, dresser, and nightstand. The bathroom included a double sink, lots of counterspace, and a shower. And on the right, there was a gym, with a few treadmills that had been enhanced with magic to keep up with werewolf speed, some balance beams, and a sparring mat. And, per Melissa's request, there was a fully stocked infirmary, equipped with six cots, and was stocked to treat both werewolf and human injuries.

Back up the stairs, the third floor was designed for more bedrooms, this time for the people who would be living in the house full-time, or at least close to full-time. There were six bedrooms, including a platform king bed, walk in closets, and enough space to personalize their own area, whether that would be a study, video games, or weapons/book/poison collection. Derek decided to leave enough room for personalization. There was also three bathrooms, nearly identical to the one on the second floor, with doors connected to two of the bedrooms. The third floor also had a theater, fully equipped with a virtual library with every movie that the internet had to offer, courtesy of Danny, and a snack bar.

The fourth floor was smaller, and despite much arguing, Derek had been bullied in agreeing into making it the 'Alpha Suit', according to Peter it was symbolic. Derek, personally, decided it wasn't worth the headache, and just let them do what they wished to his floor. The only stipulations he'd placed was that the décor remain simple, and the bed be huge. Having grown up in a wolf pack, Derek was under no illusions of ever sleeping alone. Wolves were notorious cuddler's.

By the time Derek had been allowed back onto the floor, the layout was very open and spacious, with crisp white walls, oak floors covered in an array of soft rugs, and custom bed. The room had a connecting bathroom, two walk in closets, and a huge balcony that overlooked the back. It was extravagant and yet still simple.

The three of them had combined Peter's love of books, weapons, and antique furniture, Laura's preference for sleek and modern styling, and Derek's simplistic and comfortable tastes. They had agreed on neutral coloring for the common areas, and Derek insisted on a comfortable den/living room, while Peter wanted an extensive library/ war room, and Laura insisted on a modern kitchen. They all wanted a big dinning room, enough sleeping space, lots of common areas, like the gym and theater, an infirmary, which was fully stocked with state of the art equipment, and some more mystical healing alternatives.

Furthermore, they had agreed they had begun to develop plans to construct some greenhouses in the back, three very different, magically maintained, environments to grow magical herbs, and fresh produce. They have also cleared space for an archery range, and other training obstacles that they could use to teach the betas how to fight, both as humans, and as wolves.

"Oh my god, this is stunning" Erica gasped, running her hand along the cream colored wall of the entrée, the rest of the Pack were also looking around in amazement.

"Alright, there are ten bedrooms, four guest rooms on the second floor, and there are six bedrooms on third floor for people who will be living here. Laura and Cora have claimed one of the bedrooms on the third floor, and Peter has claimed another for himself" Derek declared, and the Pack exchanged looks amongst themselves, and began to talk amongst themselves.

"I'm staying with my mom, but if that changes I'll happily take up residence in one of your guest bedrooms" Scott declared, and Allison, and Danny nodded in agreement.

"I'll take one of the bedrooms on the third floor" Isaac said, and Derek nodded, and looked very lonely as he looked over at a cuddling Erica and Boyd.

"We'll stay on the third floor as well" Erica said, motioning to her and Boyd, and shooting a wide smirk at her boyfriend.

"If you get pregnant, I'll let Peter give you the talk" Derek smiled darkly, and Peter laughed at the horrified and disgusted looks they both received.

"I have examples, and I might be able to find some pictures if I'm determined enough" Peter winked at them, and they all retched, and Laura looked particularly green, so Derek decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, all the bedrooms are soundproofed as soon as the doors are locked, so long as the wards aren't triggered. Do not let me hear or see anything" Derek glared at them, and they all nodded robotically.

"Anyway, that leaves one more bedroom on the third floor, and the three guest rooms" Laura said, and the rest of the Pack exchanged looks.

"We'll take the one on the third floor" Ethan said, looking over at his twin, who nodded in agreement.

"Well?" Derek asked Lydia and Jackson, who both looked conflicted.

"I want to, but I don't know how I would explain this to my parents" Jackson said, and Derek nodded in agreement.

"You can take as much time you need. If you only want to stay part time, that's fine, I just wanted to give you all the option of staying over" Derek said, and Erica winked at him, her eyes warm, and Derek gave his pack a knowing look as they began to shift restlessly.

"Oh, stop torturing them" Laura rolled her eyes, and stepped aside to let them stampede up the stairs.

Derek knew the moment they found the theater because his sensitive hearing could hear Erica's excited screaming from any corner of the house, and Peter shot Derek an amused smirk, before the two of them head into the living room.

"So, you know what the date is" Peter stated, his tense posture at odds with his casual tone, and Derek felt the warm mood he'd been in vanish abruptly.

August 23rd... One month until the anniversary of the fire...

"We're not talking about this" Derek stated, his jaw tightening, and Peter looked at him sharply.

"Derek, don't do that. You of all people know that being Pack means being able to lean on each other. You need to open up to them, or you'll never really move on. Just... Think about it, I think they will surprise you" Peter said, dropping an arm around Derek's shoulders, which were tight with emotion.

Derek knew Peter was right, that he had been the one to tell the pack that they were stronger together, but that didn't change the fact that Derek had been running from his pain for six years, and he wasn't sure if he could handle letting down all his walls. To rely on his pack to support him, and let them see the ugly, broken and damaged side of him... He wasn't sure that he would survive it.

"I... I'll be back" Derek winced, and was out the door before Peter could respond, that dark pit of emotion in his stomach pulsed, urging him to flee into the forests, to run and hunt, until he couldn't feel the fear and pain and guilt coursing through his veins.

About an hour into his run, Derek felt real pain shock him out of his stupor, but when he looked down at his body, he seen he was completely unharmed... But he felt as if an ache had settled into his bones, almost as if he'd been poisoned, but he was completely unharmed.

Derek almost didn't recognize the signs, the numbness in his hands, his racing heart, chest pains, dizzyness, but to be fair, he hadn't had a panic attack since the night of the fire... Since Kate found him in that motel room... Laura had been meeting with the lawyers, something about insurance claims, and Peter, but the details were fuzzy... She had made him promise not to open the door, but then he had smelt Kate, and he'd let her in. He let her comfort him over the loss of his family, not knowing that she had been the one behind the fire, and when he woke up, all that was left was a beautiful blood red fountain pen. Derek doubted Kate knew the significance of that pen, she probably took it because it was distinct enough to tell Derek what she had done, but not give him anything solid of his family to hold onto. That pen had been a courting gift from Derek's father, he had given it to her the night she became Alpha. It was enchanted, it would kill anyone who had malicious intentions towards the Hale Pack. Talia had loved that pen, she used it for everything... And it never left her office... The only way for Kate to get it was if she were to sneak in, but Derek had seen that pen mere hours before the fire...

Derek had broken down in the bathroom, and when Laura got back, she held him throughout his sobs, she had held Derek together, and he'd promised himself he would allow himself this moment of grief, but he would be strong for his sister. His last remaining family. He would not let anything hurt her.

But he had.

He had refused to return to Beacon Hills with Laura, and then she was gone, and he was alone.

After all these years, he had never truly dealt with what Kate had done to him, what he'd unknowingly helped her do to his family, and it tore Derek apart trying to stay strong for his Pack. For his sisters.

"Oh, Derek" Laura sighed, entering the clearing slowly, keeping her hands visible as she approached him, though he couldn't have stopped her if he wanted to. The numbness had spread throughout his body, making him feel paralyzed, like that damn Kanima venom... When Stiles had held him up in that pool...

Stiles... Warm amber eyes tilted up at him, full of mischief and affection, and pink lips tugged into a wry smile, creamy pale skin stretched across black leather seats... Lightning... Dark chocolate... Cinnamon... Mint...

Warmth rushed over his skin, and Derek felt his heartbeat return to a less dangerous pace, and he leant his weight against Laura, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him tight as tears trailed down his cheeks.

"She came back... The night of the fire... In the motel" Derek whispered, and Laura's body locked up, and she made a noise in her chest, like a growl that she had tried to choke down.

"She was the real monster" Laura whispered, running soothing hands through Derek's hair as the last of his panic left him.

"It was my fault, Laura... if I hadn't let her get so close to me, our family would still be alive..." Derek whimpered, and Laura gripped his face, tilting his head so he was forced to meet her eyes, which were filled with anger and remorse.

"Derek, its not your fault, I knew you were seeing someone, and I should have been paying more attention to you. I'm sorry I failed you, baby brother" Laura cried, and Derek leant into his sister.

"You didn't fail me" Derek insisted, and she shook her head stubbornly.

"No, Derek, you don't understand. You're my baby brother, and I was your future Alpha, it was my responsibility to look out for you, to protect you" Laura insisted, and Derek rolled his eyes, tears still dripping dpwn his cheeks.

"I was sixteen, Laura, I didn't need your protection" Derek denied, and Laura snorted derisively.

"You did. That monster came into our territory, and targeted you for a reason. You were just a kid, Derek, you had already been through so much, losing Paige... She took advantage of you, baby brother, and I wasn't there" Laura cried, and Derek pressed his face into her neck, offering his own for her to scent.

"Laura... I was an easy target after Paige, but it was my choice to keep quiet, it was my choice to let her close to me, touch me, learn from me" Derek whispered, and Laura growled lowly.

"No," the sound was mangled by her fangs, golden eyes burning angrily into his face "You were sixteen years old, she was twenty seven, and she used your vulnerability against you. She raped you, Derek, over and over and over, and I just stood by as it was happening" Laura growled, and Derek winced.

"It wasn't rape, I mean... Me and Stiles-" Derek began, and Laura growled sharply.

"Do not even compare those entirely different scenarios. Kate Argent preyed on an emotionally vulnerable teenager, manipulating him in a ploy to murder his family. You had sex with someone you love with your entire being, and who loved you back" Laura growled, and Derek dug his nails into the palms of his hands.

"I broke his heart" Derek said in a fragile voice, and Laura kissed his forehead gently.

"You made a mistake, you're not the first, and you definitely wont be the last" Laura acknowledged, and Derek gave her a broken smile.

"The worst part is, it wasn't just the sex or the attention that I liked, though that was nice... I liked her, Laura, she was strong, she didn't tolerate any bullshit and I respected that. She took my virginity, and I told her secrets about myself and about our family. How could I have been so blind?!" Derek cried, and Laura pressed their foreheads together.

"You were deceived, but you cant tell me if you had rejected her that she would have given up" Laura declared, and Derek gave a small agreeing hum.

"She would have found another way" Derek acknowledged, and Laura kissed his forehead.

"She was a monster, who used and manipulated you, but her actions are her own, and no one is to blame except her" Laura said firmly, and Derek breathed in mouthfuls of her scent.

"Maybe" Derek sighed, and she gave him a sad smile.

Derek knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear, that she wanted him to forgive himself, but the truth was Derek would likely never forgive himself for his part in his family's deaths. But he was beginning to understand that maybe he could finally accept it, and possibly move forwards with a new family of his own making.


End file.
